New Beginnings
by Caroline L'Amoure
Summary: After the end of the manga, Kyo and Tohru are off to run the new dojo in Hokkaido and Yuki's off to Kyoto for his university days, but a strange message Akito finds may foreshadow a dire turn of events... TohruxKyo YukixMachi rated M for sex & violence
1. Departure

-1Chapter 1

**Sorry everyone, but upon reading the rest of the manga, I looked back at my story Broken Tears and writhed in disgust XD SOOO, I'm making another Fruits Basket story that will be better suited to the story :D It will be from both Kyo AND Yuki's perspective (you'll be able to tell when it's who, don't worry)**

**This story takes place AFTER the manga is finished!! It contains HUGE spoilers, so if you haven't finished the manga and still want surprises, I suggest waiting before you read this **

Tohru looked out the window of the bus nervously on their way to the train. Kyo had talked about moving to a distant land- she hadn't realized it would be clear on the other side of Japan…

She wondered how the others would do without her- she would be so worried about them.  
"Hey- don't look so depressed." Kyo touched her shoulder softly to get her attention, and ran a hand through her hair slightly, the strands whispering through his fingers. "Everything will be alright. It will be a rough start on our own, but things will turn out, I promise."

"I know, I'm just worried about the others. What about Momiji? He looked so sad to see us go. I know Kisa has Hiro to cheer her up, but Momiji is one of the few zodiac members still single now. I think he's lonely seeing everyone else getting together."  
"What, you feel guilty?" Kyo chuckled, and touched her face reassuringly. "Momiji is the kind of outgoing guy who will get a girlfriend easily. Don't worry about that." He laughed. "Besides, girls chase after him so much he'll probably wind up like Yuki and have his own following. You worry to much, Tohru."

"Yeah." She smiled softly, knowing all to well that she worried too much. She sat up in her seat quickly enough to surprise Kyo. "We'll be fine! I'll get new jobs, and I'll work to get us a good house, and we'll use the money Akito gave us to start off, and we'll be fine! We'll prevail!" She cheered, making everyone in the bus look at her in confusion.

"That's right, we'll be fine. That's the Tohru I like to hear." Kyo laughed and patted her on the head to calm her down. He leaned back in his seat, his knees pressed against the seat in front of him. They always made these seats too damn small. He snorted in frustration as he moved his legs to a diagonal so that they were more comfortable. He sighed in relief as the bus finally stopped, and opened its doors. Kyo and Tohru made their way out with everyone else, taking their belongings from the holding bay on the bottom of the bus and making their way to the train to Hokkaido.

"Now you did remember to pack winter clothes, right? Sapporo is a lot colder than Tokyo or Kyoto." Kyo looked over at Tohru as she carried her two bags, still looking slightly nervous about moving.   
"I packed two sweaters and a pair of sweatpants." She nodded.  
Kyo sighed. "You're going to need more than that Tohru." He laughed, and shook his head. "We'll get more when we get there then."

They boarded the train with their tickets and sat in the plush seats as they talked about the family and what was going on back at home.   
"We'll stay in contact with them, it's not like we'll never see them again. I'm sure at least Yuki and Shigure will call you every week or so." Kyo said, hating to see Tohru this worried. She always thought of other people before herself, and never made any time for herself. It was a bad habit she was trying to encourage her to break.

"That's true." Tohru nodded, cheering up slightly. Yuki was currently going to a university in Kyoto, while Shigure was staying with Akito in the main house now- well now that the two of them were married, it made sense for them to want to be together all the time. She glanced at Kyo with a slight blush at the thought of marriage. He had never said anything about it- did that mean he didn't ever want to get married, or that it had never crossed his mind?  
"What's that look for?" Kyo smirked at Tohru's blush. She shook her head and slumped in her seat in emberassment. He leaned closer to her so that his breath was on her cheek. "Are you thinking about us? I saw you blush."

Tohru blushed even deeper, nodding ever so slightly. He chuckled and kissed her gently on the cheek.  
"Don't worry about us, Tohru. I almost lost you once- I'm never letting you go like that again." He said, taking her hand and squeezing it firmly to get his point across. The memory of her unconscious on the ground, scraped bruised and broken made him want to yell in fear and wrap himself around her to protect her. He thought he had lost her…

"Now you're worried." Tohru smiled, putting a hand to Kyo's face gently. "Don't worry about me, I'm okay. I can take care of myself too. I even lived on my own for a while- remember?"  
"What, the tent?" He laughed and ruffled her hair teasingly. "I don't really think that qualifies- besides, you were living on someone else's property."  
"And it turned out to be Shigure's." Tohru said happily, remembering that first hectic day… it was so long ago now.

Time passed in silence as they both thought about their past, and future. What was in store for them both? Kyo was sure he could get through anything as long as Tohru was with him, but it would still be hard starting with almost nothing. They would have to buy a house… get a car… run the dojo… maintain everything… and still find time enough to keep their relationship going- for it to grow into something even better.  
What could be better though? He looked at Tohru, who smiled sweetly to him, and he couldn't help but smile himself. Oh yeah- it would get better, he knew that now. But he didn't know if she would approve of that at all. He scratched his head thoughtfully as a blush came over his face when his mind raced with thoughts. He hated how he randomly thought these things lately, it made him feel like some dirty old man- but he wouldn't help it. He was a man after all, and men had their needs. He snorted slightly and looked out the window at the bright sun in the sky as the train sped along its tracks. Things would turn out fine- he was sure. There was no need for him or Tohru to worry about anything, as long as they were together and healthy.

**Moving to Hokkaido! (he didn't specify which distant land he was going to, so I chose for him…) This story will have a deeper plot than now, don't worry- it's only the first chapter! More will come soon:D**


	2. Moving In

-1Chapter 2

**Ah, they're finally in Hokkaido! What will happen now:o**

"What the hell?! Why is it so damn cold?!" Kyo shivered as they got off the train and made their way into the city.  
"It's a nice change, I think." Tohru smiled, letting out a long breath that froze in the air and disappeared. She giggled and did it again as they walked through a small field.  
"Nice, change, huh? I hope it's not like this for too long. No one ever mentioned this much snow when they mentioned Hokkaido." He grumbled, trudging through the snow drifts. He felt something cold hit him from behind and turned around to see Tohru standing with her luggage on the ground beside her, and a large scoop of snow gone from the ground. Her eyes widened as Kyo grinned and put down his luggage as well. "You want to play that game, huh?" He said, kneeling down to scoop the snow together at his feet.  
Tohru squealed and started running as Kyo stood back up with a large snowball in his hand, being packed tightly together. He started running after her, but both knew that he was far faster than she could ever hope to be.  
"Noooo!" She cried as she was hit on the back and dramatically fell to the ground, face-first into a large snow drift and lay unmoving. Kyo ran over to her and kneeled beside her, turning over to see her covered with snow and laughing. He chuckled as well and moved a strand of hair from her face, brushing the snow off her cheeks gently.  
"Who knew you could be so mischievous?" He grinned and kissed her gently, making them both blush. She sat up and shook her head to get the snow off her hair, and looked up at him with a blush still staining her cheeks.  
"Snowball fights are fun. Don't you think?" She smiled up to him, secretly picking up a handful of snow from the drift behind her.  
"Yeah, they are." Kyo grinned back, kissing her forehead softly as he brushed the snow off her shoulders.

Tohru's smile broadened as she stuffed the snow down Kyo's back, making him yell in shock and stand up to shake his coat out.

"Oh you'll pay for that, you little sneak." Kyo said, looking at her with an expression of surprise. He had never seen Tohru be this playful before, and he was really enjoying it.

Tohru smiled sweetly again, tilting her head cutely. Kyo knew not to fall for that ploy again, and instead picked up a huge scoop of snow, looming toward her threateningly. She let out a loud 'eep' and started running again, this time Kyo catching up to her much quicker and shoving the snow down her coat's front with a shout of triumph. Her eyes widened and she let out a loud yell, shaking out her coat desperately.  
"Something's in it! _Something's in it!_" She yelled, completely spazzing out as she tried to get the wriggling thing out of her shirt.  
"What?" Kyo turned her around and unzipped her coat, patting down her shirt until he felt something small wriggling against her chest. He looked at her in apology before reaching down her shirt and pulling the small mouse out of her bra. She looked at the mouse and gasped for breath as she tried to calm down, Kyo laughing the entire time.

"It's just a mouse, Tohru. It's not going to kill you." Kyo smiled, zipping her coat back up for her.  
"I know, it just scared me. Usually things don't try to crawl down my shirt like that."  
"Unless it's Ayame or Shigure."

Tohru looked at him for a minute and laughed, nodding in agreement. "We should probably get going then." She said, walking back over to the luggage as she looked back with a blush. She hadn't expected Kyo to reach down her shirt like that, but he had done what was needed. They both picked up their luggage and trudged the rest of the way through the field, Kyo setting the mouse down on the ground carefully before walking.

Yuki set his bag down in his new apartment, letting out a sigh that he could finally sit down. He fell into a chair on one side of the small apartment, and sighed as he was able to see the other side from where he sat. It was very different from the large houses he was used to, but it would have to do, for while he was in school at least. Everyone had to start somewhere. He looked over as his cell phone rang and rolled his eyes when he saw it was Momiji trying to call him. He had just gotten to his new home- and people were already after him. He chuckled and flipped the phone open, hearing Momiji's voice greet him happily.  
"Yuki! I hope you have gotten yourself to your new home well, I was wondering if you have Tohru and Kyo's phone number. They forgot to tell it to everyone before they left."  
Yuki froze for a minute, realizing that he didn't have it either. Oh no… he hoped that _someone_ had it, otherwise…

"She didn't tell you…?"

A long silence followed, followed by a groan of frustration from Momiji. "Where did they say they were going again? Maybe I can find them in the registered addresses or something… we have to find their phone number, otherwise Kisa will start crying, and Hiro will blame us for it."  
"Yeah, knowing him he'd probably only make the situation worse." Yuki said, putting his forehead into his palm. Man was this a bad situation- everyone was dependant on knowing that phone number- how had they forgotten to get it from them?  
"Do you think Tohru and Kyo will have the internet? Maybe we can e-mail them."  
"You forget Momiji- she didn't know what a DVD was until a few months ago." Yuki sighed and shook his head. "We'll find the number, even if we have to ask everyone. They probably told Shigure or Akito, or something like that. We may be worrying for no reason. Let's check with the others first, and _then_ start to panic."

"Good idea. I'll start with Shigure and Akito, if they're not off somewhere eating each other's faces or something." Momiji said, his grin easily heard in his voice. Yuki rolled his eyes and smiled as well, glad that the two were finally happy, but still finding it strange that Akito had turned out to be a woman after all the years of thinking she had been a guy. It explained her moodiness, but it was still strange.  
"Alright Momiji, I'll talk to you later then. Good luck." Yuki said, and flipped his phone closed. He let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair, moving his long bangs from his eyes. All this thinking of Tohru and Kyo together alone was reminding him of leaving Machi back in Tokyo. He still remembered what she had said to him, that she would catch up with him someday soon, but he still felt bad for leaving her after all they had been through together. He hoped he hadn't hurt her too badly by moving away so quickly after graduation, but he had to get a good career to prove to the others that he was useful after all. He stood up and walked over to his bags, starting to unpack his things and setting them around the room while his mind raced with thoughts.

"We're home." Kyo said, walking into the small apartment. He looked down as Tohru's face lit up and she walked into the room, spinning around in place as she looked around.  
"It's so much bigger than I thought!" She looked at Kyo with concern. "Will we be able to afford it?"  
"The down payment's already done, thanks to the money Akito sent us, but half of the other money we'll have to come up with. It'll be in monthly bills, we won't have to pay for it all at once." Kyo walked over to her, setting his bags down. "We'll get through this. Even if I have to work the dojo and two extra jobs and sleep while I'm standing, I'll get you a good home to live and work in, Tohru." he put his hands on her shoulders, turning concerned when her eyes welled up with tears.  
"You don't have to do all that for me, Kyo. I'll work too- I'll get two part-time jobs, and I'll help you." She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "I don't need a big house or anything, I just need a place to call home with you in it. It could be a back room in a store for all I care." She smiled, wiping her tears gently.  
"No, I want what's best for you. This will be where we live and eat and sleep. Now- I got some furniture with some of the money, but I couldn't get much. There's a table for your mom and everything, and a bed and a table for the dining room/kitchen." He said, pointing to the objects. "We'll get more when the money comes. For now, lets unpack and get things settled before we start to worry ourselves about the future." He said, walking over to one of the boxes piled into the corner earlier by a favor from Akito.  
Tohru nodded as Kyo took out the picture frame with Tohru's mother and handed it to her carefully. She nodded and walked over to the table in the room, setting it down gently and looking at it for a minute.   
'well mom, I'm finally on my own. I promised that I would be good, and that I would succeed, and look where I am now- I have a boyfriend and a new apartment and everything.' She smiled happily, and walked back over to the same box, taking out a bowl and a bag of white and black beads. She walked to the same table as her mother was on, and put the bowl beside her, pouring the beads into it gently, and going to throw the bag away. Kyo watched her leave and walked over to the bowl, picking up one of the beads and looking at it. These had been the beads that were always on his wrist, keeping the spirit of the cat's true form hidden away inside him. They were made of human bones and blood, a grim testimony to a stranger's sacrifice to the one possessed by the cat demon. He had ripped them off when the curse had been broken, finally able to live without them. He put the bead back and looked at the watch now on his wrist and smiled wryly. He had felt somewhat… naked without something on his wrist, so he had settled for having a watch there instead. Now at least this bracelet had a purpose other than reminding him of pain. Tohru came into the room and smiled softly as Kyo looked at his wrist and walked over to him, giving him a gentle hug from behind. She loved that she was finally able to hug him and not have him turn into a cat. While she missed being able to hold the orange cat in her arms, this was well worth losing that particular detail. Kyo smiled back at her and put a hand over hers on his chest, savoring the moment. It was only a little while ago that he had hugged her and hadn't transformed, shocking them both. Sure, others had been losing their curse as well, Kureno, then Hiro and then Momiji, but he had never expected his own curse to break. Somehow, he had expected it to keep on going, even if the others had their curses broken, because he wasn't actually part of the zodiac itself. He wrapped his hand around hers and brought it up to his face to kiss the palm gently, then stepped back and looked down at her.  
"You're distracting me, Tohru. We'll never be able to unpack at this rate." He smiled down at her gently. She blushed slightly and nodded, still not used to being so open with her emotions to him. Especially the flirting, she was never very good with flirting with men, and usually messed things up by being too sensitive and hyper.

"Not that I mind you distracting me or anything." He said, kissing her hand again and leaning down to kiss her forehead. "But we can distract each other later." he smirked mischievously. For being without the spirit of the cat, Kyo still acted very much like a cat, sometimes laid back, sometimes sly and flirtatious. It was a roller coaster of emotions that was so new to her she felt excited at just the thought of him, her stomach making funny flips into her chest when she saw the glint in his eyes. He reluctantly withdrew from her embrace and started to unpack the rest of the items into their new home.  
Several hours later, everything was unpacked their home was finally complete. It was dark now, and both Kyo and Tohru were exhausted from carrying things back and forth into their proper places.  
"Ugh, I'm so tired." Kyo sighed, slumping to the floor. He looked up at Tohru as she swayed while she stood and shook his head. "But obviously you're more tired. Let's get to sleep then, tomorrow will be a busy day." He said, leading her into the bedroom to make sure she didn't fall. He looked in, his face reddening when he realized the situation they had put themselves in.

"Crap." He muttered, realizing he only bought one bed for them. He looked down at her nervously, his face flushed crimson. "Um…" He shook his head, and guided her over to the bed with a sigh. "You sleep here, I'll sleep on the floor."

"Kyo…" Tohru looked at him, her face blushed as well when she saw the single bed in front of her. "That wouldn't be fair- this is your home too."  
"But-"  
"I'll sleep on the floor, you can sleep on the bed."  
"Now wait just a minute- I'm not letting a woman sleep on the floor while I sleep in the bed. That's just wrong."  
"Well, what else are we going to do? Both sleep on the floor, or both sleep in…the…" She looked at the bed and her eyes widened, her face blushing even more.

"I know, I know, I forgot that we needed two beds!" Kyo said defensively, trying not to make her think he had done it on purpose. It was far too early in the relationship to think along those lines…

"I…I understand, but…" Tohru looked at him and the bed and let out a small squeal of embarrassment.

Kyo looked away, his face nearly as red as a cherry. "So… what do you want to do then?"

Tohru looked down nervously, holding her hands together in front of her. "There's only one thing we really _can_ do, since neither of us will sleep on the floor." she whispered. "Just promise, just promise that…"  
"I won't." Kyo said, his blush getting even worse. They looked at each other and both sighed nervously. There was no way to avoid this, they both knew that neither would consent to letting the other sleep on the floor. Kyo looked at her one last time and rolled his eyes, taking off his shirt. Tohru let out a loud squeal of protest and turned around, making Kyo look at her in confusion.  
"What? You've seen me naked before when I transformed, it's only my shirt." He said, still blushing.  
"B-but…" She bit her lip nervously. That meant she would have to sleep in her pajamas next to him, so close like that… "I-I'll get changed in here." Tohru said, grabbing her pajamas from the dresser and quickly retreating to the bathroom.

Kyo scratched his head nervously and climbed into the bed under the covers, huddling into the farthest side of the mattress. He froze when Tohru finally climbed in as well, as gently and quietly as she could. She quickly fell asleep, far too tired to stay away for very long. Kyo turned around enough to look at her and gritted his teeth nervously. She looked so calm and peaceful while she slept, and it only made her all the more beautiful to him. He turned back around, curling into a ball, much like a cat would. He crossed his arms to keep himself from touching her, but knew he wouldn't be able to sleep very well tonight, knowing that she was right next to him.

This was going to be a very, very long and restless night.

**Poor Kyo, he's so tortured XD**

**Please review after you've read it!**


	3. The Warning

-1**Sorry for the long wait for another chapter- exam finals and such made me too busy to write XD But now is Christmas break, so I'll be able to write a lot more a lot faster :D**

**Ayame is SO fun to write about XD I hope you like this new chapter!**

Kyo woke early in the morning as usual. He yawned loudly and froze, feeling something stirring against him. He looked down to see Tohru snuggled against his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him and her leg hiked up over his waist. He stayed completely still, wondering if he should get up, or stay in bed and savor the moment.   
"Mmm, Kyo." Tohru whispered against his collar bone, her face flushed in her sleep as she tightened her grip around him. He smiled down at her, wondering what it was that she was dreaming about. He turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around her lovingly, setting his forehead against hers gently. He looked at the soft features of her face and knew that he had to be one of the luckiest men in the world to have her all to himself.

He moved a stray piece of her long hair from her cheek and kissed her lips softly while she slept, wondering if he was moving too fast in their relationship. He had loved her for so long, always worrying about his past and his future, but now that things were finally quiet and peaceful, he wanted to hold her and never let go- as if this whole thing was a dream he would wake up from and find himself right back where he had started, scared, unsure and angry. She stirred against him, moving her leg over him and making him groan in frustration. This was getting out of hand now, he wasn't sure if he could stop himself if he was provoked any further. He had the strong urge to kiss her senseless, to make her experience what it really felt like to love someone unconditionally.

He felt her stir again and looked down to see her long eyelashes starting to flutter open.  
"Please don't freak out, Tohru. We're going to have to get used to this." Kyo said, putting a palm to her cheek gently.

She looked up at him with a blush, feeling his arms around her but nodding silently.  
"What were you dreaming about, Tohru?" Kyo smirked when she looked up at him in shock and blushed deeper. "What, were you having a dirty dream or something?" He chuckled.  
Tohru blushed again, looking away shyly.  
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Tohru." Kyo said softly, turning her head back to look at him. "Everyone has dreams like that. I know I do."  
"You do?" She said softly, her eyes wide.  
"Oh man, you poor woman. Did you think you were the only one who had them? Of course I do, most of them are of you too." He grinned down at her, his brown eyes flashing. Tohru looked down nervously, not really knowing how to reply to that comment, but closed her eyes in content when his fingers started trailing through her hair soothingly.  
"So what were we doing in your dream?" Kyo asked, sighing when she looked up with wide eyes and shook her head in embarrassment.

"You know that even if you have raunchy dreams I'll still love you. You don't have to be polite and proper around me."  
"We were…were…" Tohru glanced up at him and buried her face in his chest in embarrassment.  
"Is that so?" Kyo grinned happily with an eyebrow raised. He calmed and moved closer to her so that his mouth was next to her ear "Someday, we will. Only when you're ready though, I don't want to scare you." He said, kissing her cheek and dared to move down and kiss her neck softly. Tohru inhaled sharply in surprise, but relaxed when he put a hand to her waist to calm her. She closed her eyes tightly in pain, tears beading at the edges of her eyelashes as she looked back up at him. His smile faded and he wrapped his arms around her again.  
"What's wrong? Did I say something to upset you?"  
"No… I just have to… tell you something." She said, trying her best not to cry. She didn't want to ruin this morning, but it had to be said before they went any further in their relationship. She just hoped with all her heart that he wouldn't abandon her for it.

"You can tell me anything, Tohru. I'm here for you, no matter what." He said, starting to get worried when his words only made her let out a small sob.

"I'm… not what you think, Kyo. I'm not whole." She said, not able to look at his eyes as she spoke.  
"What are you talking about, Tohru? Of course you're whole." He lifted her chin so that she was looking at him.  
"No- I… I can't be a real wife, I can't be a real woman." She said, closing her eyes in pain. "I can't have kids at all- the doctor said something's wrong with the process." She opened her eyes, which were overflowing with tears. "I had to tell you, I was afraid that you would think I was broken and you wouldn't want me anymore."

Kyo sighed deeply and hugged her tightly. "I don't think you're broken Tohru. You're perfect. You saved me from the curse, and from being locked up. I don't know why you can't see that you're perfect, too."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide as tears streamed down her face and hugged him back. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Kyo. Thank you." she whispered into his bare shoulder.

"It's alright." He said, smiling against her hair. "Now, we should probably get up and going. We have a long day ahead of us. I'll start making pancakes for breakfast while you get dressed." He said softly, sitting up to untangle himself from her. They both stood, ready to start the day in their new lives together.

"have you had any luck yet, Momiji?" Yuki asked, walking down the street to his apartment from his first day of university.

"No, and I've asked everyone I can think of. I just can't believe no one thought to ask them for their number."  
"We were all pretty emotional with Kyo, Tohru and I leaving all on the same day. Don't worry about it, we'll find it somehow."

"Yeah, I know, Kisa's not very happy though. She wanted so badly to talk with Tohru. Oh- and someone else is here to talk with you."  
Yuki raised an eyebrow curiously as the phone went silent while it was being handed over.

"BROTHER!" Ayame's voice yelled over the phone, making Yuki flinch and hold the cell further from his ear. "What a travesty! We will do everything we can to find them, we cannot let Kyo take Tohru away unattented- who knows what he'll do to her!" Ayame hissed in pain dramatically, "At this rate Tohru will lose her innocence in the next week! What a horrible turn of events!"

"Kyo's not like that, Ayame." Yuki said, knowing that Kyo was just as shy about that kind of thing as Tohru was. Not that he himself was any different.

"Oh but you never know with men like Kyo- they can be as shy as a dove while single but if they get a girlfriend they turn into a testosterone factory- we must find her and save her before it's too late!"

"Honestly Ayame, it's their business what they do together." Yuki said, trying not tot hink of them doing that kind of thing- it made his skin crawl.  
"If you say so…Ah, your girlfriend asked about you, by the way. I don't know how you could leave such a sweet creature behind. She's gotten very quiet now." Ayame said, his voice sounding amused. "And is it true you got her a Mogata figurine? You must be very sweet on her."

Yuki blushed and gritted his teeth in frustration. "why didn't you call me sooner if Machi asked about me?" he grumbled.

"I was right! I will send word to her right away of your phone number. I'm sure she will call you soon." Ayame was silent for a minute, while another voice talked to him. "Well, I must go Yuki- my public is demanding my presence. Be a good little brother and study hard for school."

Yuki looked at the phone as it beeped the signal that told the end of the call, and shook his head. His older brother was always so dramatic and excited, it made him tired just talking with him. He turned up the walk to his apartment and fell into the mattress on one side of the room. He glanced over at the textbooks beside his bed and groaned in complaint, picking up the first book from the pile and opening it to read the first chapter.

Shigure sat on one of the walkways of the Sohma main house, his feet dangling above a perfectly made Japanese sand garden. He was deep in thought, worried about both Kyo and Tohru and about the strange message Akito had gotten just the other day in the mail.

"It's different to see you so quiet, Shigure. You must really be at wit's end." Akito said quietly, the constant edge to her voice softened slightly as she sat down next to him, her black kimono flowing around her. "Is it about the letter, or Tohru?"  
"Both." Shigure said, not bothering to lie. Akito was the only one in the world who was as smart and conniving as he was, and he loved her for it- he wouldn't have it any other way. Even if she did have a tendency toward tantrums.  
"The letter is of no importance. 'Novelty will die'? I don't know what it's supposed to warn us against." She said with a sarcastic smile.

"Well the newest event I can think of is the curse breaking, but we know that can't come back. I'm not sure what the warning means, but it still makes me nervous."  
"You need to relax more, Shigure" Akito said, leaning over to kiss his neck gently. He made no reaction, other than soft sigh.  
"I just hope this doesn't foreshadow anything bad coming. As I writer I notice these tendencies you know."

"Just… relax with me." Akito said softly, pushing him so he was laying back against the wood below her. She kissed him softly and sighed happily when he kissed her back, rolling her over and looking down on her from above with a sultry smile.

Tohru bit her lip nervously as she watched the interviewer look over her resume, occasionally nodding and frowning.  
"Well Miss Honda, it looks like you meet the qualifications for the job." He older man set the papers down in front of him with a smile. "Welcome to the team, I'm sure you'll enjoy working with us."  
"Tohru smiled happily and bowed politely in gratitude. "Thank you sir, I'll work hard, I promise."  
"From what your last employer said about you, I'm sure you will." He smiled back and filed the papers in the cabinet behind him and stood. "Come with me, and we'll get your work uniform."  
Tohru nodded happily and stood as well, following him into the back room of the hotel management offices for fittings.

**Oh dear, it seems events are starting to turn sour :o what will happen??**

**Please review how it's going so far to get more!**


	4. Innocence

Tohru walked into her and Kyo's apartment, closing the door behind her softly. She was still wearing her work uniform, and still in shock at how it looked on her. She had decided that she would sneak into the bathroom to change into regular clothes, and hopefully Kyo wouldn't...

"Tohru, is that you?" Kyo asked from the other room of the apartment. Tohru let out a cry of surprise and looked behind her to see Kyo moving around the corner. She sprinted from the room so that Kyo only had a glimpse at someone in black and white as he came into the next room.  
"Hey- Tohru? Is that you? Answer me." Kyo said, now starting to get wary of this intruder. They had tiptoed through the house so that he had to strain his hearing to catch them, and now they weren't responding to his calls- instead they were trying to flee. He ran after the person, almost tripping over a chair as he tried to catch up. He saw another glimpse of a black and white outfit and sped up enough to grab the person's hand as they rounded the next corner. Kyo yanked at the arm until he saw Tohru's cherry-red face looking back at him in horror.  
"I-I don't know why they gave me this! I never had to wear this kind of uniform for my last job!" She stammered, smoothing down the rumbled black fabric of her skirt.

Kyo looked at her in shock as he realized she was wearing some sort of goth lolita outfit, but in a more maid-oriented style.

"_Where are you working?"_ he whispered, putting one of the black ribbons between his fingers to see whether this was actually the outfit she was wearing or not.  
"it's just a hotel! I looked it up in the phone book, and all it said was a hotel of love! I thought it sounded so romantic, with all the happy couples..." She trailed off at Kyo's long, deep sigh.

"You applied to a love hotel?" he said, trying to hide a grin behind his hand, which was covering his face.

"I-I don't know. I guess I did. How is it different from a regular hotel?" Tohru looked up at Kyo with big, brown, innocent eyes. Kyo swallowed a lump in his throat and put a hand on her head to ruffle her hair playfully.  
"You really shouldn't be working there. It'll freak you out when you realize what people do there." Kyo said, looking her over in the new outfit. Black wasn't really her color, and it made her look far more dark and depressing than it actually was. Now if it had been in pink... He shook his head at his own stupidity and guided her toward the bedroom.  
"You get changed out of that silly thing, and I'll get dinner started. I thought we might have some homemade sushi as a celebration. I even got real crab." he said, with a far too eager voice. Tohru giggled and smiled brightly.  
"You're still like a cat. I like it." She laughed and shut the door to the bedroom to get changed, while Kyo walked down the hall to the kitchen with a smile.

"Akito? What's so wrong that you would call me?" Yuki asked into his cell phone, shocked at the idea of Akito actually calling him over a phone instead of summoning him to the main house. Although the zodiak curse was now lifted, the idea of Akito not being in charge anymore still felt a little... strange.

"I need to talk with Tohru. And... Kyo." She said the last word as if straining to be nice. "We've been getting alarming letters, and I think they need to know what is happening."

"Letters? What do they say?" Yuki said, now alarmed. Akito wanted to talk with Kyo... this must be bad.

"I don't know if I should tell you." Akito said softly, revealing the all to rare womanly side to her. it caught Yuki off guard, who looked at the cell phone in surprise. It was hard to believe that this was the same Akito from his childhood...

"I suppose I should, since you're involved too. Before I say anything- don't worry about Machi, Ayame is keeping her safe."

"What's going on? Why would Machi be in danger?" Yuki said, panic starting to rising.

"Calm down. There have been threatening letters, at first saying 'novelty will die'. Then it... started talking about the individual zodiac members. More importatly, you and Kyo. Although it seemed Hatsuharu and Momiji were mentioned as well for some reason."

Yuki froze, his blood chilling. That meant someone knew what had happened, and wanted to reverse the cure. Could it be possible for the curse to be put back on?!

"Mostly it talked about Tohru in a deep level of hatred. Someone wants her hurt. Or worse."

Yuki stayed silent for a minute. "Who would want to hurt Tohru?"  
"I don't know. Wouldn't you think I'd stop it if I knew?" Akito said, her voice turning harsh temporarily before she cleared her throat. "I just need Tohru and Kyo's number in Hokkaido."

"I don't have it. None of us do." Yuki said, his eyes widening when he realize the situation.

A long, tense silence followed. "Then we may be in trouble." Akito said, and hung up the phone.

Tohru slipped on the last ribbon as she got ready for her first day of work, dreading the day ahead of her. What would this place be like, it Kyo was so worried about her working there?

She went into the doors of the lobby and looked around, signing herself into the computer for her shift before going upstairs to start cleaning the rooms that had been occupied overnight.

She rolled the cart of cleaning supplies down the ornate hallways, stopping at the first room. She knocked softly on the door, standing on her tiptoes to try and look through the peep-hole before knocking harder. With no response still, she used her master key to unlock the door and walk into the room to start cleaning.

She whisked the bedsheets into a large basket on the cart, and got out the cleaning solution and dust rag to start scrubbing the room down. As she emptied the trash, she noticed something strange at the bottom of it. A small gleam of silver. She looked closer, and nearly dropped the dustbin when she realized what it was. She looked around the room for other signs of the antics that had gone on the night before, and saw more clues that only confirmed her suspicion.

"Oooooooooh no." She whispered, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end at the idea of cleaning up after such an act like that. She went back to the cart to put on the heavy duty gloves, and put the plastic gloves over those. She turned back around, now realizing why Kyo had been so concerned about her.

After a long day cleaning who knows what, Tohru was exhausted as she started walking down the street toward the apartment building. She was carrying the bag that had her uniform stuffed into it, and she was planning to somehow clean it when she got home. Tohru looked up as she heard some sort of rustling in the ornamental bushes to her right, and bit her lip nervously as she started to walk faster in the darkness of a new moon night. As she heard the footsteps quicken behind her She turned around to see a tall figure advancing toward her. She prepared to start running, but before she could take her next step a cloth covered her mouth and nose and the world went black...


	5. Horror

Kyo looked at the clock on the wall as it ticked the night away. He sat at the table in front of the dishes full of food, which had now gone cold. He had made dinner nearly an hour and a half ago for when Tohru came home, but for some reason she was taking much longer than usual. Maybe she stopped to shop a little, or maybe she had to talk with someone?  
There had to be a reasonable explanation for why she was over three hours late from work.  
Kyo tapped the table in front of him impatiently, looking at the door to the apartment hopefully, but hearing no sound of anyone approaching the room. This was going to drive him crazy if he didn't find out where she was. He should at least check the route she went to work on.  
Kyo walked out of the room, his red eyes scanning the area around him as he quickly walked down the street toward the hotel she worked at. He looked around when he smelled a strange scent, like some lingering smell of alcohol. He looked to the ground to see a bag on the ground, a small orange cat keychain attached to one of the zippers, and a black and white outfit pouring out of its opened top.  
"Tohru." Kyo said, his eyes widening with horror when he realized that Tohru would _never_ leave her work uniform on the ground like this. She would never lose the orange cat keychain she had been so proud of making.  
"Tohru!" Kyo yelled, looking around as panic started to rise in him, running over to the nearby bushes and looking behind them, but saw nothing. As he frantically searched, he realized what the smell had been in the air where Tohru's backpack had been, and his throat constricted with emotion at the thought. Chloroform. That meant someone had to have knocked her out and taken her. "SHIT!" Kyo yelled, punching the nearby building wall, which cracked under the force. "Who would want to take her? Why?" Kyo said, trying to get a hold of himself when he felt his eyes stinging. He was supposed to protect her, but he had let her get hurt again. What kind of man was he that he couldn't even protect the woman he loved? He didn't even know where to start looking for her. Kyo fell to his knees in front of the cement wall, hitting it again for good measure. He knew one thing: he couldn't find her alone. He had to have help…  
Hating to having to resort to this, Kyo pulled out his cell phone and dialed Yuki's phone number.

Yuki sighed as he put down his textbook, looking over as the clock blared '1:15' in glowing red letters. He looked up in surprise when his cell phone rang, and looked at the name on the front screen. His eyes widened when he saw it was Kyo calling.  
"Yeah?" he answered quickly, needing to tell Kyo the news from Akito as soon as he could.  
"Hey Yuki." Kyo said, his voice low and shaky.  
"Kyo? What's wrong?" Yuki said, shocked by the unhinged sound of Kyo's greeting.  
"Um… it's Tohru." Kyo said, closing his eyes tightly as he sucked in a breath to calm himself down. "She's gone."  
"GONE?!" Yuki said, standing up in shock.  
"That's what I said you damn rat, GONE." Kyo hissed, too panicked for questions. "I need your help to find her. I found her bad and work uniform on the ground. I think someone used chloroform on her."  
Yuki put his forehead in his hand in dread, knowing this was exactly what Akito had been warning him about. It had happened, and now Tohru was in terrible danger. "How long ago?"  
"I think an hour and a half."  
"Alright, she can't be too far away yet, then." Yuki said, then let out a sigh. "We'll find her, okay? She'll 

be alright."  
"I was supposed to watch her. " Kyo said, his voice soft, with the sound that he had lost all hope.  
"Don't start that shit again, Kyo." Yuki said in a stern tone. "She'll be alright. She's probably scared and waiting for us. Focus yourself on finding her instead of feeling sorry for yourself. I'll call Hatsuharu and be in Hokkaido in the morning. Just go home and try and get some sleep." Yuki said, and hung up on Kyo. He quickly dialed Hatsuharu, and tried to think of the best way to tell him what had happened.

Kyo looked up at the night sky above him, the phone resting on the ground beside his hand. Why did it feel like a part of him had died? He picked up the phone and stood up, walking home slowly, and closing the door behind him softly. He walked past the meal he had made and fell onto the mattress on the floor, yelling in anger and frustration into his pillow so he wouldn't wake his neighbors.

Tohru groaned in pain as she held her head, her nose stinging and her mouth dry. She remembered what had happened and became suddenly alert of the room around her, which looked horribly familiar. Wooden floors, blank yellow walls and a small window in one corner with strong bars to prevent escape.  
_This was the room they put the cat in._ She thought in horror, attempting to stand up, but fell back down when her legs gave out.  
"Ah, you're finally awake." A woman's voice said from the other side of the window. Tohru supported herself against the wall behind her as she stood up to see the face of the person who was holding her captive.  
It was an elderly woman, who looked strangely familiar as she stood in front of the window with a smug smile. "I see you recognize me." The woman said. "That doesn't surprise me, since you were at the Sohma main house so often. Corrupting our family and making them fight against each other."  
"What?" Tohru said, her voice weak and raspy.  
"You little brat, don't play stupid with me. You've turned the entire family against tradition. Everything that was sacred is now desecrated. How dare you even try to deny it?" The woman spat at Tohru. "I think this is a just punishment for the girl who fell in love with a beast. Live like the beast yourself, and see how you like him after that. If you live long enough to see him again." The woman laughed.  
"Kyo's not a beast. He's human." Tohru whispered, not able to believe that this woman was accusing her of such horrible things.  
"Wench. Must you be so stubborn? You're out of the Sohma family now, and you'll never return. I raised those children from when most of them were babies, teaching them to stay away from others, to keep to themselves, and then you came along. You forced them to a corner, took what you wanted and left them empty of their blessings from God. You took them, somehow…" the woman said, her eyes wide. "And now I'll find a way to take them back from you. Even if it kills you."  
Tohru looked down in horror as she realized this woman must be insane. Was she alone out there? Was there a way to get out of here? She noticed the woman had left and quickly made her way to the window, only to see a large burly man look over at her from the outside wall of the house, his expression filled with distaste as he glanced at her. Tohru backed up again, realizing she had been caught looking for a way out, and sat back down against the far side of the wall. She thought about how worried Kyo would be when he found out she was missing, and cried softly when she realized there was no way for him to find her when even she didn't know where she was.


	6. Capture

Kyo looked up when a knock came to the apartment door. He knew who It was already, since he had cancelled his martial arts lessons with his students until further notice. He walked over to open the door, seeing Yuki's bright eyes look at him in concern.  
"Hey." Kyo said in a low, slow voice of depression. Yuki walked forward, revealing Hatsuharu behind him, who walked in as well.  
"I have no idea where she went. I thought about where they could have taken her all night, and I have no idea." Kyo said, running a hand through his orange hair in frustration as they all sat down on the floor, since there weren't enough chairs to seat them all.  
"I called Akito and Shigure as well, to see if they would know something we didn't. It turns out they do." Yuki looked at Kyo with deep purple eyes. He had never seen Kyo this way before, and for some reason it was starting to scare him. "There's a second cat house."  
Kyo looked up in shock at that, his eyes wide. "What? You think they brought her there?" He said in horror.  
"It's a possibility. These are people who for some reason would want to hurt Tohru. The only reasons I could think of why they would want to do that, is because she broke the curse and made everyone happy." Hatsuharu added.  
"A lot of people were upset that none of us had our 'powers' anymore. Some thought it was more of a blessing than a curse." Yuki said, shaking his head in disgust.  
"Either way, I think one of those people decided to act on their hatred toward her for making them useless to the Sohma family. It's the only thing that makes sense at all. She's too sweet to have enemies, and she runs too fast to be captured by a pervert." Hatsuharu said in a matter-of-fact tone.  
"She does run fast." Kyo said, letting a small smile slip out at the memory of having to catch her after she came out of the hospital.  
"There's a smile. Good." Yuki said, letting out a sigh of relief.  
Kyo looked up at him in surprise. "What, you were worried about me?"  
"Oh, so cute. Get a room." Hatsuharu teased, making a kiss-y face as both Kyo and Yuki glared daggers at him.  
"Well, I suppose we should try looking around for this 'second cat house' then." Kyo said, shivering at the thought of looking for the house he could have been stuck in for the rest of his life. What if she had been put in it instead?  
"Alright, let's get going then. The longer we wait, the more danger she's in." Kyo said, standing suddenly. Yuki and Hatsuharu agreed and they left to try and find Tohru somewhere in the country of Hokkaido.

"Do you give up, yet?" One of the burly men under the old woman's command said angrily, holding Tohru up by the cuff of her shirt. She closed her eyes as tears ran down her face from the pain of him hitting her again.  
"You must let the cat go. Forget about him, and agree to never see him again."  
"I can't." Tohru whimpered, flinching as another blow was struck.  
"You're making this much more difficult than it needs be, my dear." The woman sighed, and walked over to her, looking up at Tohru who was still being held up against the wall of the cat house. "I need to find a way to break the curse. All was well until you fell in love with the cat. That must be the key."  


Tohru looked up at the woman with wide blackened eyes, wondering how far she was willing to go to try and bring the curse back.  
"Let her go, if we do any more damage she's likely to faint." The woman sighed, and the burly man set her carefully on the ground, looking at Tohru in apology as the other man grunted in disgust. The woman leaned down over Tohru, who was scuttling back against the corner as quickly as she could to get as far away as possible. "Deary, if you don't try harder to cooperate, you're likely to die here." She said, rolling her eyes when Tohru huddled even tighter against herself. "I'm not going to let you go, Tohru. You'll stay here instead of the cat in the need arises, always looking at the world through those bars over there." The woman pointed to the small window on the other side of the room. "Do you really love him so much that you would take his place in solitary confinement?"  
Tohru looked up at the woman in disbelief. Something inside of her somehow settled into place and her expression started to melt into anger. "How can you do this?!" She yelled, her voice raspy. "What did I ever do to you?!"  
"I was welcome in the Sohma household until the curse broke. Akito cast me aside like some useless toy now that she didn't need me anymore. I'm an old woman- there's nothing I can do with my life anymore. I spent my entire youth taking care of the Sohma children, and this is what I get in return." She hissed. "If I can get the Sohma curse to return, I'll be welcome back into the main house again. This is my only chance for redemption, and I'm taking it."  
Tohru continued to glare at the woman, uncaring of whatever excuses she had. There was no reason to kidnap and hurt her. "You cannot bring the curse back, no matter what you do. I don't know how you figured out this plan, but it won't work."  
The woman looked at the young girl for a moment in shock, and turned around to walk out of the building, opening the door built into one of the walls, and closing it behind her and the two men under her command. Tohru flinched as she heard the heavy iron lock close and she was once again left in the small room where the only light came from the window with heavy bars separating her from freedom. She would get out somehow… even if she had to chew through one of these walls, she would get out and go back to Kyo.

"Are you saying the cat house is somewhere in the middle of this forest?" Kyo looked around the dense forest, the noises of the nocturnal creatures starting to sound out now that the sun was setting.  
"It's the only place we haven't looked. " Yuki sighed, starting to get tired. They had been searching all day for some abandoned house, but all they had found was a small shed in the middle of the forest.  
"Perhaps we would have more luck if we split up?" Hatsuharu said, looking around ahead of them into the darkness.  
"Good idea. We'll meet back up at the edge of the forest at midnight- agreed?" Yuki looked down at the watch on his wrist, which now read 8:30.  
"Agreed. Let's get going." Kyo said, wanting to find Tohru as soon as possible.  
Kyo started heading east into the forest, moving aside branches and avoiding raised roots as he stumbled as quickly as he could off in his chosen direction. He cleared the trees and found himself in a grove, revealing a small building at the far side of the clearing. Kyo stared at the old wooden house, a small barred window the only sight into the inside of the building. He ran as quickly as he could over to the window, looking in to see utter darkness, except for the silhouette of a huddled figure lying at one 

side of the small room.  
"Tohru?" Kyo whispered, gasping when the figure raised its head in confusion, but seeing nothing, put its head back down with a small groan of pain. Kyo ran around the building looking for a way in, and spotted a large iron latch on one side of the building. He opened the latch and pulled on the knob, opening one of the walls into the small building and running in. He kneeled next to the figure and turned her over in her sleep. Not able to see the girl's face in the dark, he brought her over to the window and choked when he saw Tohru's soft expression riddled with bruises and scrapes. He cradled her closer to him, hoping that she wasn't injured too badly, and wondered who would do this to such a sweet woman. He started walking carefully back to the open door with Tohru in his arms, only to see it close before him in a hard slam. Kyo yelled in shock and ran over to the wall, kicking at the closed door, but to no avail.

**Hello everyone, this is Caroline! Thank you to all who reviewed the story and convinced me to keep going with this plotline ******** If you'd like to see more, please keep reviewing and I'll write a new chapters ASAP.**


	7. Innocence Lost

Kyo looked down at Tohru and moved a brown lock of hair from her face as he examined her bruises and cuts in the faint moonlight. How could he have let her get hurt like this? Who would want to do this to her? He looked back up at the door to see whether it had somehow got jammed, but it was still shut tight, almost unnoticeable against the bamboo wall around it. He looked down in surprise as Tohru made a small groan and looked up at who was holding her groggily.  
Her wide brown eyes looked up into Kyo's red eyes, which were narrowed in concern at her raspy breathing.  
"K-Kyo?" Tohru said softly, reaching a hand up to his face to make sure he was really there- that she wasn't imagining things again. Her palm met his cheek and she let out a hoarse cry of relief, throwing her arms around her neck as tears started to sting her eyes. "Kyo, I'm so happy you're here. You came for me!"  
"Of course I did." Kyo said, his throat suddenly constricted with emotion. He leaned against the wall behind him and slid to the floor so that Tohru rested on his lap, surrounded by his arms. He buried his face in her long hair, trying to bury down the feeling of wanting to cry in relief. He had never felt so scared in his entire life when he had found out she was captured. At least when Akito had stabbed her he knew where she was, and that she was in safe hands at the hospital.  
He tightened his embrace as he saw the bruises covering her face and shoulders, and silently wondered how many more covered her body.  
"B-but this means you're stuck here too!" Tohru said suddenly, her eyes wide in horror.  
"So? I can protect you while I'm here. No one will hurt you again." Kyo said, putting a finger softly to one of the bruises, making Tohru flinch. Kyo quickly took his hand away from the spot, letting out a deep breath. "What did they do to you?" he asked, his voice quiet.  
Tohru looked away, not able to meet eyes filled with such sorrow. "They wanted me to forget about you." Tohru whispered.  
Kyo's eyes widened in shock. "Why?"  
"They want to bring the Sohma curse back. They think that my loving you was the thing that broke the curse, so they wanted to make me forget you." Tohru said, starting to shake. Kyo tightened his grip on her as he felt her shivering, looking at her with concern. She was acting so strangely…  
"I couldn't forget about you. I never can, I love you too much." Tohru said against Kyo's chest, her hand clenching his shirt as tears ran down her cheeks.  
Kyo ran a hand through her hair as he looked up at the barred window at the other side of the small building, a grim smile coming over his face.  
Hadn't Tohru tried to stop him from being captured in this very place? How ironic it was that he had walked right into it, for her sake.

Yuki looked down at the watch on his wrist, which was blaring 12:30 in neon green numbers.  
"He's late. Do you think he got lost?" Hatsuharu said, looking at the forest in front of them where they had searched for the cat house, but with no luck.  
"Have you ever known Kyo to get lost anywhere?" Yuki replied, looking into the shadows of the trees nervously. Something didn't feel right… he shouldn't be this late.  
"I'll give him fifteen more minutes. If he doesn't show up, I'm going to track him down." Hatsuharu said, leaning against a tree casually as he waited.  
And waited.  
"That's it, I'm going to look for him." Hatsuharu said, standing up from the tree and walking in the direction Kyo had gone deeper into the forest. Yuki nodded and followed, hoping Kyo was just lost. What if he had met the same people who had captured Tohru? He walked faster at the thought, keeping pace with Hatsuharu as they searched for Kyo.

"They're coming." Tohru whimpered against Kyo's shirt, clutching to him tighter as the door across from them swung open loudly. Kyo set Tohru on the ground beside the wall behind them carefully, standing up in front of her with his fists clenched.  
"That do you want?" Kyo asked, his red eyes burning with rage through the darkness of the room.  
"Ah, look who we caught in our little trap? Just as expected." An elderly voice said behind the men walking toward Kyo.  
_Expected?_ Kyo's glanced back at Tohru when he realized that he had walked right into a trap, but as long as he could protact Tohru, he was fine with being in a cage temporarily.  
"Yeah, so you caught me, what's the big fricking deal? I'll just kick your ass and get out of here." Kyo smirked, taking a fighting stance before the two men in front of him.  
"We do not want to hurt you, cat, but if you do not cooperate we'll have to take desperate measures." The woman sighed, as if Kyo was acting like an unruly child.  
Kyo stood straight again, finally recognizing the woman's voice. "Wait- you're that servant from the Sohma house! Why are you doing all this?"  
"I AM NOT A SERVANT." The woman yelled, walking in front of the two men to glare at Kyo. "I cared for you and the other Sohma children for most of my life. I never cleaned, I never cooked. My only task was to make sure you children were safe from harm and that your curse kept a secret from society."  
"Then why the hell are you hurting Tohru? Why kidnap her?" Kyo hissed, starting to get angry again.  
"She somehow broke the curse. God blessed all you Sohma children with a wonderful gift, and you just cast it aside. I am trying to help you and get the curse back, so that you can be special again."  
"Blessed?" Kyo laughed in disbelief. "You thought I was blessed? I'll bet you never saw my true form, then."  
"I have, and it was beautifully unique." The woman said, smiling sweetly.  
"You're fucking crazy, you know that?" Kyo said, taking a step back in shock. Panic rose in him when he realized he was being held captive by such a crazed person, and he looked wildly around the room for a way to get out.  
"Very well, I see that you are unwilling to cooperate." The woman sighed again, and snapped her fingers. The two burly men advanced toward Kyo and Tohru. Tohru stood up as Kyo lashed out at the closest enemy, hitting him squarely on the jaw with a hard punch. The man stumbled back, cradling a broken jaw in his hands and groaning in pain.  
"Come on, big guy. You wanna get hurt too?" Kyo smiled, waving his hand in a taunt. The man growled and started running toward Kyo. Kyo's eyes widened as he was tackled to the ground by the much larger man, pinning him easily so that he couldn't move.  
"Found you!" A familiar voice yelled, followed by another yell from the man Kyo had already wounded.  
Kyo looked over the man's shoulder to see Hatsuharu and Yuki in the cat house, looking around for Kyo. Yuki ran over to Tohru, examining her face with a hiss of pity. The man on top of Kyo raised himself up so that Kyo was stilled pinned and punched him hard on the side of the face over and over as Kyo tried to block the blows as best he could.  
"KYO"! Tohru yelled, making Kyo look up in surprise and get hit especially hard from an unblocked blow.  
Tohru stood still for a moment as she saw Kyo was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and let out a low Growl. She pushed her way out of Yuki's arms and ran over to the man on top of Kyo. "GET OFF HIM!" She yelled, kicking at the man as hard as she could, aiming for his spine.  
Yuki stood in shock at the sight of Tohru hurting someone on purpose, but shook his head to get back into the fight. Hatsuharu was easily taking care of the wounded man while Kyo was struggling against the man Tohru was still kicking, managing to squirm partially out from under him. Tohru heard a loud crunch under her foot and gasped, backing up quickly against Yuki as she watched the man.  
Kyo easily got from under the limp figure now, walking quickly to Tohru as she examined the man she had been kicking.  
He wasn't moving.  
Yuki walked over to the man's head to check his breathing, and looked up at Kyo with wide eyes. "He's gone. She must have broken his spine."  
Tohru fell to the ground, her eyes wide. She had killed someone. The world went silent as the thought ran through her mind.  
Kyo picked up Tohru in his arms and looked down at her wide, blank eyes. He looked at Yuki, who shook his head in disbelief at the situation. Hatsuharu walked over to them, the other man unconscious on the ground.  
"What's wrong with Tohru?" He said, wiping his bloody knuckles on his black muscle shirt. Yuki pointed to the man on the ground, and Hatsuharu looked at Tohru in shock.  
"She…?" He looked down at her wide eyes, her shallow breathing and the fact that she was shaking all over.  
"Yeah." Kyo hugged her tightly to him, looking around the room again. "Where did the old woman go?"  
"Shit." Hatsuharu looked around the room, but saw she was gone as well. "Well I suppose we were pretty occupied. She can't have gotten far. You two bring Tohru back to the apartment, I'll try to look for her." Hatsuharu said. He walked closer and moved Tohru's hair from her face. "Get better Tohru, or Isuzu will kill me." He watched for a minute more before running out the door of the building to find the woman responsible for this mess.  
Kyo and Yuki walked through the forest, occasionally glancing at Tohru, who was still silent and limp in Kyo's arms.  
"She's never hurt anyone, and now this…" Kyo looked down at her in concern. "I don't know how she'll get through it."  
"She'll need you for support." Yuki said, looking at Kyo thoughtfully. "You're her anchor now."  
Kyo nodded as he stepped onto the asphalt of the road "Why does she always get hurt from being with me?" He whispered, to no one in particular.  
"Because you two are meant to be together." Yuki answered, glancing at Kyo with bright purple eyes. "This is fate's test for you two, for the strength of your bond. If you want to stay together forever, then you have to deal with the good, and the bad." He looked ahead at the apartment building ahead of them, and looked back at Kyo. "I'm going to get some food for us. Take good care of her, and I'll meet you at the apartment later."  
Kyo nodded, walking up the stairs to the apartment and managing to unlock the door. He walked in with Tohru, switching on lights as he continued into the rooms. He laid her softly down on their bed and sat beside her, watching her black face.  
"Tohru." He said softly, trying to get her attention. Her eyes stayed staring at the ceiling, still wide and dilated. Kyo put a hand onto her cheek and rested his forehead against hers. "Some life we've started, huh? It didn't turn out exactly like I'd wanted it to be." He said, looking into her soft brown eyes. "Please get better. I know you're probably shocked at what happened, but it was for my sake, right? Don't think I won't forgive you for what happened, I already have. Just… please wake up." Kyo waited for a minute and when she didn't react he moved behind her so that she rested against his chest. He held her against him tightly. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep us together Tohru, I promise. I'm not losing you again." He whispered, kissing the top of her head lovingly as he rocked her reassuringly in his arms.


	8. Recovery

"She's still not responding, huh?" Yuki walked into the apartment, setting down a plastic bag filled with food on the small table before walking into the bedroom.  
"No, she's not." Kyo said, still supporting Tohru on his chest as he smoothed down her hair. Her eyes were shut at last, and she was sound asleep.  
"She's probably in shock. She'll be better soon." _I hope_. Yuki didn't say the last part out loud, he didn't want to upset Kyo any more than he already was.  
"That woman is still out there somewhere too. What if Tohru gets captured again?" Kyo said, looking down at Tohru in concern.  
"Well then we'll just have to watch her carefully." Yuki shrugged.  
"You have classes, Yuki. You can't stay here for long. It's Sunday morning." Kyo looked up at Yuki, who sighed and nodded.  
"I have an exam this week too. I don't think I should stay until the last minute." Yuki looked down at Tohru and kneeled beside the bed, putting a hand into her hair. "I'm just worried. When I leave, swear to me that you'll call me when she gets better. I want to talk to her."  
"I will." Kyo said, feeling uneasy about Yuki touching Tohru so affectionately, but knowing better than to get jealous.  
"Are you leaving after lunch, then?" Kyo looked up as Yuki stood to make breakfast. The sun had already risen, but Kyo hadn't gotten any sleep at all.  
"probably. You should probably get her washed up." Yuki pointed to Tohru, who was covered in dirt and blood. Kyo sighed and nodded, picking up Tohru gently, and bringing her over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He grabbed a washcloth and supported Tohru against his side as he got it wet to wash her. She was still sound asleep, probably exhausted from being in such shock, and from being stuck in that building for so long. He picked her up in his arms again, bringing her over to the bathtub and set Tohru against the back of the tub as support, making sure she wouldn't slide down. He put the warm cloth to her face, washing her gently as she murmured in her sleep.  
"Most of the stuff on your face is dirt." Kyo said in relief as what he thought were bruises started washing away. There were some cuts and bruises left still, but they weren't as bad. "I can't believe you protected me like that, Tohru." Kyo said softly. "I probably would have gotten really badly hurt if you hadn't done that." Kyo wiped her forehead clean and moved down her cheeks to her neck. He gulped nervously as he wondered whether he should change her torn clothes or not…  
"Uh… hey Yuki, could you hand me a pair of clothes for Tohru?" Kyo called out of the bathroom. A minute later Yuki opened the door and tossed in a shirt and a pair of shorts.  
"Please wait until I'm gone to try anything like that." Yuki said in a low voice. Kyo looked up at him with a deep blush.  
"That's not what I meant!" Kyo tried to reply, but Yuki had already shut the door again. Kyo turned back to Tohru uneasily, wondering if it was possible to change someone's clothes without looking at what you were doing.  
It was worth a try.  
Kyo reached out with shaking hands and grabbed her shirt, trying to pull up upwards, but it had gotten caught on something already. He knew he wouldn't be able to look away now, so he turned toward her to see an exposed pink bra. He froze, his eyes wide as all thoughts suddenly dumped from his brain. Shirt… get the shirt off. He wrestled with the cloth until it fell to the floor beside the bathtub and he quickly put the new one on. He knew that he must be beet red from blushing, and let out a shaky sigh. It would probably be okay if she kept the pants on, right? They weren't torn as much as the shirt had been. He nodded to himself and grabbed one of her arms to clean it, running the cloth up along her smooth skin. It looked like most of the bruises had been around her face and neck, which meant that someone had been punching her the whole time. Anger rose again inside of him at the thought of one of those huge men beating on such a defenseless girl, but stopped with a chuckle.  
"I guess this means you can protect yourself too, huh?" Kyo smiled, kissing her cheek when she was all clean. He picked her up carefully and opened the door to the bathroom, setting her on the mattress in the bedroom gently.  
"Here." Yuki handed Kyo a bowl of oatmeal and two spoons. "She has to eat. I doubt she had any meals while she was stuck in that house for that long."  
Kyo took the bowl and leaned Tohru up against him again, quietly feeding her the oatmeal, and glad she swallowed it. Yuki watched them thoughtfully as he ate his own oatmeal and looked up when the door opened.  
"I couldn't find her." Hatsuhari said in anger, and looked around. "I smell oatmeal." He said happily, and eagerly took the last bowl from the counter in the kitchen. "Yuki makes such good oatmeal." Hatsuharu said around a mouthful of food.  
Yuki rolled his eyes and looked back as Kyo finished the last of the bowl when Tohru wouldn't open her mouth anymore for the food. She murmured something in her sleep and nuzzled Kyo's chest before curling into a ball against him.  
"Well she seems content." Hatsuharu laughed as Kyo looked down at her in surprise.  
"After all that, a little babying will do her some good." Yuki smirked, but continued eating.  
Hey, I'm just glad she's doing something other than staring off into space." Kyo smiled, putting a hand on Tohru's head. She nuzzled him again when he ran his hand through her hair, and Hatsuharu laughed.  
"She reminds me of a kitten." He said, making Yuki laugh as well.  
"Haha." Kyo said sarcastically while he rolled his eyes, but smiled when he realized they were right.  
"it's no wonder you two got along so well." Yuki chuckled.  
"Hmmm… Yuki?" Tohru whispered, her eyes opening slowly.  
"Tohru- are you alright?" Kyo said, setting the bowl down and wrapping his arms around her for comfort.  
"Yuki, you are here. I thought you were at college." Tohru looked over at Yuki, who shook his head.  
"I came to help you over the weekend. Hatsuharu came too. You gave us quite a scare."  
Tohru thought for a minute before she tensed up in Kyo's embrace. "That was real? I thought it was a nitemare."  
"No, it was real." Kyo said, holding her tightly as she started shaking, her eyes wide.  
"B-but th-then all of it was real?" She whispered, clutching at her hair in a nervous gesture. "then that man really died?"  
"Yes, he did." Hatsuharu said, leaning forward as he set his bowl on the table beside him.  
"Then I really am a murderer." Tohru groaned as if in pain and clenched her hair in her fists, tears streaming down her cheeks. "How could I do such an awful thing?!" She yelled, her body shaking with sobs as Kyo tried to keep her from hurting herself. He took her hands in his, turning her around in his arms so that she was facing him.  
"Did you see what was happening to me? He had me pinned, and I was being beaten. You saved me Tohru, you have no reason to feel like a murderer." He hugged her tightly, and let out a strangled laugh.  
"I came to save you, and you wound up saving me. I really am a failure as your protector. Just… don't feel like you hurt him for no meaning. You just wanted him to stop." He whispered, holding her against him reassuringly. Tohru looked up at Kyo with wide eyes.  
"That's right, you were bleeding. Are you alright?"  
Kyo looked at her in shock for a minute before shaking his head with a chuckle. "My nose hasn't stopped hurting, but otherwise fine."  
Tohru's eyes widened and she sat up more, looking at his nose carefully. She reached up to touch it lightly, and Kyo hissed in pain at the contact. "Your nose is broken!" Tohru said in a panic, quickly standing up and running into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards.  
"I cannot believe her." Kyo said, putting his face in his hand, but carefully avoiding touching his nose. "She's the one that I'm worried about."  
"It looks like she's feeling a little better already." Yuki said, chuckling when he heard things being tossed around as Tohru looked for the first aid kit in the kitchen.  
"Be carefully or she'll wrap your whole head. All you need is one of those little white bandages." Hatsuharu stood, and looked around. "Well, I suppose my job here is done. Isuzu is waiting for me, and I'll tell her Tohru is alright. She turned funny colors when I told her Tohru was kidnapped." Hatsuharu thought for a minute. "Come to think of it, she might be happy enough that she'll tackle me. Hmm, I should get home." He walked over to the door and waved, before walking out.  
Kyo rolled his eyes, but looked up uneasily when Tohru ran toward him with bandages and alcohol in her hands.  
"What's the alcohol for? It's not a cut." Kyo sighed. Yuki chuckled as Tohru set the objects on the ground in front of Kyo and unwrapped one of the cotton strips.  
"Just in case. Maybe the inside's bleeding."  
"You are NOT sticking alcohol up my nose." Kyo said, turning his face away from her as she grabbed for his chin. She leaned forward more to reach for his face to turn it, but instead bumped his nose with her knuckles, making him yell out in pain and hold his face defensively.  
"Kyo- I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Tohru said, her face flushing in embarrassment.  
Kyo laughed, shaking his head as he took his hands away from his nose. "it's alright. I just need-" Kyo reached down into the pile of bandages and picked up a small bandage and some tape. "This." He handed it to Tohru. "You can put it on if it makes you feel better."  
Tohru nodded and carefully taped the bandage to the bridge of his nose, watching his expressions to see whether she was touching him too hard or not.  
Yuki watched the two and smiled softly, thinking of Machi. He looked down to his waist as his cell phone rang, opening it up.  
"Hello?" Yuki answered, and was surprised to hear Akito's voice on the other end.  
"hello, Yuki. I was wondering how Tohru was doing. Hatsuharu called to say you found her."  
Yuki sighed softly. "There was a bit of an event while we where there, but otherwise everything's fine." Yuki looked up at Kyo, who now knew that Yuki was talking to someone about Tohru.  
"Akito, I have a request." Yuki paused for a minute. "Did you know there is a second cat house? It's where Tohru was taken by one of the former Sohma servants."  
"A second… cat house? No, I did not. We will fix that problem immediately. You say a former servant took her? Who?"  
"The old woman who raised us."  
"Ah, that one. For some reason that doesn't surprise me too much." Akito paused, and Yuki heard the faint voice of Shigure in the background. "I also have a request for you, Yuki."  
Yuki looked at the phone in surprise and nodded, but remembered he was on a phone. "Yeah?"  
"I'd like you to leave Kyo and Tohru to have some time to themselves. Also, I'll be sending them some money now that we know where they are, so that Kyo can watch over Tohru while she recovers."  
"I'll leave in a few hours." Yuki agreed, and looked to Kyo. "Kyo will take care of Tohru, she's in good hands. I'll swing by the Sohma house before I head back to college to tell you the whole story."  
"Thank you. I will see you then." Akito said politely, and the call ended. Yuki closed his cell phone again, and told them Akito's request.  
"Ah- they shouldn't send us money." Tohru blushed. "that's too much."  
"I refuse to let you work for a while Tohru. You have to rest and heal." Kyo looked down at her with raised eyebrows, as if daring her to argue.  
Tohru nodded and looked down, rubbing an especially sore spot on her neck.  
"Well then, I suppose there's nothing more to do here." Yuki looked down at Tohru, putting a comforting hand on the top of her head. "I'll call you later, alright?"  
Tohru nodded silently, biting her lip nervously. "I'm sorry I made so much trouble, guys. I guess I just… lost my temper."  
"That's quite a temper." Kyo chuckled, trying to ignore the large white bandage obstructing some of his view of her. "But it's fine. He might have killed me if he kept going. You can die from a broken nose, you know."  
"WHAT?!" Tohru looked at Kyo in horror.  
"Yeah, if you aim right, you can send the shards into the brain." Kyo nodded calmly, but Tohru had started shaking again.  
"S-so you could have died?" She looked up at him with wide eyes.  
"Yeah, so you saved me. Tohru-1 Kyo-0." Kyo smiled, ruffling her hair playfully.  
"Don't try and make it a tie. You two already have had enough stress for one lifetime." Yuki shook his head with a sigh. "We all have." He stood and looked toward the door. "Well, I should get going. I have an economics exam to study for."  
"Alright, good luck." Kyo waved as Yuki opened the door.  
"Thanks, I'll need it." Yuki chuckled. "And take care of yourselves. Get more chairs too- we'll be back." Yuki walked out the door, closing it behind him.  
"Well, I suppose that means we should get some rest. We had a long night." Kyo said, running a hand through Tohru's hair.  
"Yeah."  
Kyo took Tohru's hand and led her through the rooms and into their bedroom, laying her down on the bed softly. "Are you sure you're alright?" he said, taking off his shirt to sleep.  
"Yeah, I'm just… scared. I've never hurt anyone, and I didn't mean for him to…" She cringed and tears welled into her eyes  
"hey." Kyo laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her as she started to cry. "You liar, you are not alright." He rested his cheek against the top of her head and let her cry, figuring she needed to vent her emotions a little. Tohru turned around in his arms and buried her face against his chest. Kyo let out a small sigh and hugged her tightly to him, relieved that she wasn't hurt too badly from the event.


	9. Kyoko!

Tohru woke before Kyo, and looked down at his arms lightly holding her against him. She somehow felt different- like she was more mature for some reason. She knew some of her innocence had been lost when that man's spine had cracked beneath her foot, but now that she finally accepted what happened and that she had done it to protect Kyo, she knew that she had nothing to worry about. Kyo had already forgiven her for killing a man, and didn't see her as a murderer. She looked to his face, seeing how calm he appeared when he was asleep, like there wasn't a care in the world. Tohru smiled and put a hand to his cheek, making him hum happily in his sleep. She leaned up and with a blush kissed him softly on the lips. Kyo twitched and woke up, kissing her in return before leaning back.  
"Tohru?" He asked, looking down at her in pleasant surprise.  
"Thank you for taking such good care of me all the time." She whispered, looking down shyly.  
"It's no problem." Kyo chuckled. "that's what you do for the woman you love." He smiled warmly and snaked a hand through her hair, bringing her head up for another kiss. This kiss was much more heated than the last, and Kyo gasped, breaking the kiss with a blush. He scooted a little ways away from her, and looked around the room nervously.  
"Did I do something wrong?" Tohru whispered, blushing as well.  
"N-no! No, you're fine. Kind of… the opposite." Kyo said, his cheeks reddening even more.  
Tohru's eyes widened and she felt her heart racing inside her chest. "Really?"  
Kyo looked at her and grumbled. "It's not that hard to believe. I think you're… well when you're close to me you… bah, forget it." Kyo looked away.  
"What, you get turned on?" Tohru whispered shyly. Kyo looked at her with wide eyes, surprised that she would say something so bluntly.  
"Come on Kyo, I was in high school too." She said, unable to look at his bright red eyes. He was looking at her in a way she had never seen before, almost looking like he wanted to eat her.  
"Well, yes. For how shy you usually are, you're pretty hot."  
Tohru smiled softly and rested her head against Kyo's chest again. "you're hot too, Kyo." She giggled.  
Kyo closed his eyes tightly, wondering what he should do next. Should he keep going and hope she wouldn't be mad at him? Should he stop now and preserve her purity? His eyes shot open again when he felt her lips against the side of his neck, his blood pooling from his mind so that he could no longer think.  
"Tohru?" He gasped, his hands subconsciously clenching at the back of her shirt.  
"S-sorry, was that too much? You seemed like you liked it." she blushed, leaning up so that their faces were level with each other, laying on top of him. He smiled wryly and rolled them both over so that now he was laying on her, bracing himself on his elbows so he didn't crush her.  
"It was fine." He said, his voice low as he bent down to kiss her neck and shoulders.  
A loud knocking at the door made both of them jump and look up in surprise.  
"Package for Tohru Honda and Kyo Sohma." A young voice called out through the door, and Kyo growled in anger against Tohru's neck.  
"Of all the frickin horrible timing." He hissed, and rolled off Tohru, standing up. "Wait here." He said, smiling down at her flushed face, and walked quickly to the door.  
A delivery boy stood on the other side, looking at the half dressed man in curiosity, but handed him the two packages, an envelope addressed to Kyo from Akito, and a rather large box addressed to Tohru from Shigure.  
"What the hell?" Kyo looked at the large box and almost dropped it when something inside it moved around. He looked at the delivery boy, who only shrugged.  
"I only deliver 'em." He said, his hand in front of him, palm up for the expected tip. Kyo grumbled more and handed him a rather large tip for a delivery package.  
"This tip is so that you remember to _never_ deliver a package to this apartment before noon." Kyo said, his red eyes fierce. The other man nodded nervously and quickly left before Kyo could change his mind. Kyo closed the door and turned around, looking at the box in his hands in confusion.  
"What's that?" Tohru asked, finally calmed down. She hopped out of bed and walked over, taking the box out of Kyo's hands and looked at it in shock when it moved again. She looked through one of the holes as Kyo opened the envelope to find a large sum of money. Tohru let out a loud high pitched squeal, making Kyo jump in shock and look at her in confusion as she ripped into the box.  
And pulled out a small orange kitten with a white tummy.  
"OH MY GOSH! A KITTEN!" Tohru yelled, holding the small animal in her arms happily.  
Kyo was at a loss for words as he stared at the cat. "Shigure." Kyo hissed, looking down into the box to find a note along with a bag of Meow Mix.  
"'My dear Tohru'" Kyo read, rolling his eyes at the greeting. Tohru looked at him and read the note over his shoulder. "'I send you this kitten so that you can still have a cat to cuddle with, except this one doesn't scream at people when it's angry. Her name is Kyoko, which I thought you might like. She is already registered, and has a collar. I hope you like her!'  
-Shigure + Akito'" Kyo looked at the small kitten as it stared up at him with green eyes. "Kyoko, huh?"  
"Named after my mom." Tohru said, looking at the cat as it meowled sweetly at her. She squealed again at the small sound and held it out to Kyo. "Can we keep her?"  
Kyo looked at the combined pleading stares of a small kitten and Tohru and sighed. "Yeah, we can keep her."  
"YAY!" Tohru twirled with the cat, who hopped down from her arms and wobbled slightly on the floor. Kyo laughed and picked up the kitten, holding it under its front legs and looking it straight in the eyes.  
"No funny business, got it Kyoko? And for the love of God no peeing on the carpet." Kyo stared at the cat in the eyes, and the cat licked him softly on the nose in greeting.  
"God, that's too much. I can't be mean in the face of that." Kyo sighed, and put the adorable animal on the counter.  
"What's wrong? Are you jealous?" Tohru giggled, smirking to Kyo. Kyo grumbled slightly and blushed.  
"No." he said, but in a tone that was an obvious lie.  
"Don't worry Kyo, you'll always be my cat." Tohru laughed, standing on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. Kyo smiled and walked into the kitchen, stroking the cat as he walked by.  
"Alright then, I'll start making breakfast. After that, we'll go to the store to get Kyoko some food, toys and a litter box." Kyo said, and leaned back into the doorway. "Or do you not want to go out yet?"  
"No, that's fine. We should probably leave Kyoko here for now though." Tohru said, sitting on the ground in front of the small table. "We should call Shigure later on and thank him for Kyoko- I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from us."  
"Sounds good." Kyo said, and opened the cupboards with a frown. "We should get some food while we're out too. Does cereal sound good to you?"  
"Yep." Tohru said happily, glad that things were starting to turn back in the right direction.


	10. The Plan

Shigure sat in the doorway to the sand garden, writing ideas for his next book in a small black notebook on his lap. He looked up as he head footsteps behind him and glanced over as Akito sat down next to him, her face stuck in an expression of shock.  
"What's wrong?" Shigure asked, putting down his notebook and pen in concern.  
"Have you seen the package we got in the mail today?" Akito whispered, her voice barely audible.  
Shigure stood up and walked briskly over to the main room of the house, covering his nose at a horrible smell that had filled the air. Flies gathered around the top of an opened box, which must have been the source of such a horrible stench. Shigure walked cautiously over to the box and looked into it in horror.  
Inside was a dead orange cat, the word 'love' carved into its side in jagged slashes.  
"Dear God…" Shigure gasped, quickly closing the box and putting it in the corner of the room. He stared at the package for a moment longer before walking back to the other room to comfort Akito, who was now shivering.  
"Are you worried about him?" Shigure asked, his voice soft.  
"He can take care of himself. I'm more worried about Tohru. This woman's gone insane." Akito let out a raspy gasp, her eyes wide. "What should I do? I'm still the head of the household, I have to do something!"  
"You can't do anything about that woman, she's out of your hands." Shigure sighed, and wrapped his arms around Akito. She rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes still wide.  
"I should do something. Why am I not able to do anything? I hate being helpless." She said sadly, and Shigure raised her chin to make her look up at him.  
"You aren't helpless. You prevented Tohru from going through the unnecessary danger of going out at night to work- I sent them a kitten to keep her happy, and to keep Kyo occupied. We've already both helped them, and now they have to help themselves."  
Akito nodded, looking out the window at the sand garden as a sparrow landed in the sand, fluttering its wings to clean its feathers, and destroying the perfect beauty of the area around it.

"You got her catnip? I don't want a high kitten stumbling around the house!" Kyo looked at the small orange cat as it played with its new toy mouse, chewing on it with droopy eyes.  
"I thought catnip just made them happy. Is it a drug?" Tohru gasped, wondering if she should try to take the toy away from the kitten before it hurt her.  
"It's a drug, but she should be fine." Kyo rolled his eyes, and shook his head in dismay. He had left Tohru in the isle of pet toys to pick something out for the kitten while he went to pick out furniture for the house, which was now looking much more like a place where someone lived rather than a squatting house.  
"It's getting late." Kyo smiled as Tohru yawned, and nodded shyly in agreement. She changed in the bathroom while Kyo simply took off his shirt and settled down in the bed. He noticed that the kitten didn't particularly like him like most cats had when he was still the cat of the zodiac. He smiled in satisfaction and rolled onto his side as Tohru sat on the bed next to him.  
"Kyo, do you think I've changed a little?"  
Kyo sat up, looking at her with raised eyebrows when she refused to look at him. "What do you mean by changed?"  
"Like, I act differently. I feel a little different since that guy… well, since the other day." She looked down 

at the bed with sad eyes, and Kyo put a hand to her cheek comfortingly.  
"You've gotten a little more bold, if that's what you mean. I wouldn't say change is always a bad thing, Tohru. Sometimes it's the beginning of something better."  
Tohru looked at Kyo with wide eyes and smiled sweetly. "So you're okay with me being less shy? I don't know why I changed, but I guess I did."  
"I think you lost a little bit of your innocence when that happened, but that's okay." Kyo held out her arms for her welcomingly, and Tohru leaned into his embrace. They laid down in the bed, Tohru quickly falling asleep, leaving Kyo the only one awake. He looked down at her in his arms and smiled softly, thinking it was cute that she was so worried that he wouldn't like her because she wasn't as shy as before. Actually, he thought it was kind of nice now that he didn't have to fight quite so hard to try and get to her actual feelings rather than the smiling mask she put on for the world around her. He tightened his grip on her protectively, falling asleep with his cheek resting against her soft brown hair.

"Shigure, why is there a dead cat in a box in your house?" Hatsuharu's calm voice ran out in question through the main Sohma house. He looked closer at the cat in the box, raising an eyebrow in interest at the word carved into its bloody fur. "Oh my. It seems we still have trouble." He said with a sigh, and stood up as Shigure walked into the room.  
"Ah, Hatsuharu- how nice to see you." Shigure shook Hatsuharu's hand, and Akito nodded in greeting.  
"Thanks. Um… I have some good news, bad news and worse news." Hatsuharu ran a hand through his black and white hair, looking at Akito nervously. "I guess I'll give the best first. We saved Tohru just fine, and she and Kyo are living happily back in their apartment, and Kyo is probably obsessively protective of Tohru now."  
"That boy needs to be. She's gotten herself into a bit of a pickle." Shigure nodded, his face serious. "The bad news?"  
"Well, Tohru managed to kill a guy." Hatsuharu said with a shrug, making Akito gasp.  
"_What?" _Shigure gasped, his eyes wide. "How could sweet innocent Tohru kill someone? That doesn't make sense."  
"Well, they were beating on Kyo pretty badly, and she started kicking him on the back. She apparently hit really hard and broke his spine. Poof, dead."  
"What do you mean by dead… like, paralyzed, or…?" Akito said in a whisper behind Shigure.  
"Dead, as in his spirit is gone but his stench remains. He wasn't breathing, and he's probably gone up to that great big farm in the sky." Hatsuharu pointed up, his eyes still perfectly calm.  
Shigure shook his head in dismay. "Poor Tohru must be heart broken. I'm glad I got her that kitten, now, for however much trouble it will give Kyo."  
"She was in a coma-type-thing for a little bit, but luckily she snapped out of it by the end of the night." Hatsuharu crossed his arms over his chest thoughtfully. "Did you know Kyo actually has a romantic side? Who knew."  
"What should we do about those two? This woman is ruining the beginning of their time together. How should we solve this problem?" Shigure sighed.  
"Well, there's always the typical way." Hatsuharu suggested with a wry smile.  
"And what's that?" Shigure looked up to Hatsuharu with a raised eyebrow.  
"Live bait." He grinned, his black side showing a little through the wide smile.


	11. The Bait

"No fucking way am I letting you guys do this." Kyo glared at Hatsuharu as he, Shigure and Yuki sat in Kyo's living room. "Tohru's already been through enough, she doesn't need to get in any more danger."  
"We weren't talking about Tohru." Shigure sighed at Kyo's quick temper. "The woman who is after you two has apparently given up breaking the curse through Tohru. She's now aiming at you. After all, you can't love something that's dead." Shigure shrugged casually as Kyo's jaw dropped in shock.  
"She wants to kill me?" He said nervously, shifting in his seat a little. "What's with this woman? Why does she want the curse back so much?"  
"Ah, I believe Akito has the answer to that. She told me that this woman has been taking care of the zodiac born children since her father's time. The woman has raised two generations of children, and has seen them through the best and worst times. Now that we no longer have the curse, she was no longer needed. So, I believe she wants the curse back so that she'll be needed by us again."  
"God, what a psycho." Kyo sighed, running a hand through his orange hair. "So she wants to work back at the main Sohma house, even if it means killing me?"  
"I believe so. You know how the elderly thought of the cat, Kyo." Shigure nodded solemnly, hinting at the all too familiar idea of the cat house, where the zodiac cat was to be kept for his entire life.  
Kyo shivered and nodded, looking at the ground uneasily. "So you want to use me as bait? Aright, I'll agree on one condition."  
"Name it." Hatsuharu shrugged, glad that Tohru was out of the house momentarily to talk with the girl across the hall in the apartment building.  
"Keep Tohru safe while I'm busy. She's had it rough lately, and I don't think she's completely over it." Kyo looked in the direction of the door, concern filling his eyes.  
"I'm still shocked that you turned out to be such a romantic." Shigure sighed wistfully, making Kyo glare at him in annoyance.  
"Look, I just don't want her to get any more hurt. She about broke down before, and I never want to see her like that again." He snapped, and calmed down. "Scared me to death." He muttered under his breath, hoping no one heard him. Yuki smiled as he heard Kyo's whisper, but decided not to say anything about it.  
"Are we all ready then? We should discuss the plan while Tohru's out of the room. She probably wouldn't approve of it." Yuki nodded in satisfaction.  
"I just hope she doesn't go looking for me, wandering around the streets or something." Kyo sighed, knowing Tohru would do that if she found him missing.  
"She won't, I'll be watching over her." Shigure said seriously, his face without a trace of sarcasm. Kyo was taken aback at the sudden seriousness of the usually goofy Shigure, but nodded in satisfaction, knowing he would take care of Tohru.  
"Alright, I was thinking of something subtle. We don't want to make it obvious that we're trying to trap her." Hatsuharu said, leaning forward in his seat as they started discussing the plan.  
"That's a good idea. She seems like the type of person who is overly cautious." Yuki nodded.  
"Alright, so Kyo walks to the market to get some groceries. Not a big deal, the man has to eat. She's probably waiting for a chance when he's alone, that she can do something drastic to capture him. The only thing is, we don't know what she'll try and do." Hatsuharu looked up at Kyo with dark eyes. "You may get really hurt."  
Kyo shrugged. "Yuki's been beating on me since I can remember. I think I can take anything she throws at me."  
Yuki smirked at that comment, but only nodded. "She'll probably try hitting you with something. Just keep your eyes out."  
Kyo nodded and looked to Shigure, as Tohru walked out of the kitchen with the tea she had prepared for everyone. She handed people their cup of hot tea and sat down beside Kyo, looking at everyone's grim expressions in confusion.  
"What's wrong with everyone?" She asked, setting down her cup in concern.  
"Nothing, Tohru. We're fine." Kyo smiled, hating to lie to her.  
Tohru nodded slowly, not entirely believing Kyo, but decided to change the subject.  
"So Shigure, how are you and Akito doing?" She smiled.  
Shigure smiled whistfully. "Ah, wonderful, as usual. Akito has really calmed down a lot since the curse has broken, and she's even wearing skirts every now and then." Shigure snickered at the surprised expressions the last news made. "Yes, she's experimenting a bit. I rather like it."  
"I'm sure you do." Yuki rolled his eyes, but smiled.  
"So Kyo, do you have anything to eat? I haven't had a meal since breakfast." Hatsuharu said casually, sipping his tea.  
"Um…" Kyo looked at Tohru in question, and she blushed.  
"No, we don't- I wasn't expecting guests, and we only have enough rice for Kyo and I." She stammered, but Kyo put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.  
"You're fine, Tohru. I'll go to the store and get us something to eat. You stay here."  
Tohru looked at him and sighed, nodding. "That would probably be best."  
"Shigure will stay here with you. Hatsuharu- you come with me, since I have no idea what you'll want to eat." Kyo stood, grabbing his apartment keys as he walked toward the door. Yuki stood with a sigh.  
"I'll come as well, to make sure you two get something that's actually healthy."  
Kyo glanced back at Tohru's concerned face as he walked out the door, feeling horrible for leaving her alone.


	12. Close Call

Kyo walked down the sidewalk toward the grocery store, his red eyes wide with caution as he watched every available hiding space around him for any sign of danger. Why the hell had he agreed to such a stupid idea? What if the woman had hired more thugs again? He had almost gotten killed last time one of them attacked him. He glanced to the other side of the road, knowing Hatsuharu and Yuki were both behind the shrubs that divided the sidewalk from the street. They were covered in winter's frost, and bore down on themselves from the weight.  
He continued to watch ahead of him, trying to look as casual as possible.

"Do you think he's worried enough?" Hatsuharu snickered as he watched Kyo look all around himself.  
"I would be too. We have no idea what this woman will do. Wait-" Yuki grabbed Hatsuharu's duster to stop him from moving, pointing ahead at a woman standing on an overpass, watching Kyo carefully. There was no doubt that was the woman from the Sohma house. Kyo stopped under the bridge, having seen her as well, and stared as she brought something out of her kimono sleeve.  
"SHIT!" Hatsuharu jumped up, sprinting as fast as he could up the stairs of the overpass, flinching as a gunshot rang through the air. He didn't stop to look at Kyo, but tackled the woman to the ground, slamming her hand against the cement until she let go of the gun. It was then that Hatsuharu saw Kyo writhing on the ground beneath the overpass, Yuki running over to see to the damage.  
"You've gone too far, woman." Hatsuharu growled, unphased by the old woman's tears as she sobbed for mercy.

Yuki ran over to Kyo, dread and horror bearing down on him as he stopped before the orange-haired man, who was groaning in pain on the ground. Yuki leaned down, looking Kyo over and holding him still to see any wounds he had suffered. He sighed when he saw that only his upper arm had gotten shot, and even then the bullet had left a deep gash against his upper shoulder. It hadn't actually hit him, just grazed him.  
"Fuck, where does an old woman get a gun?" Kyo hissed, looking at the blood covering his hand as he took it away from the wound. "Tohru's gonna kill me."  
"I doubt that." Yuki chuckled, taking off his shirt and ripping the bottom off into strips to wrap around Kyo's shoulder.  
"Is he alright?" Hatsuharu dragged the sobbing woman over to Kyo, the gun tucked in the front of Hatsuharu's jeans.  
"I'll be fine. I just need first aid." Kyo muttered, looking at the woman with furious eyes. "We should let Akito deal with her. I'm sure she'll think of some creative punishment for what she's done."  
"That's a great idea." Hatsuharu smiled menacingly.  
"No, please! Not Akito." The woman sobbed again, but Hatsuharu rolled his eyes.  
"Please, Akito isn't _that_ bad. Though… maybe for you she might reveal a bit of her black personality." Hatsuharu laughed and started walking down the road, dragging the old woman behind him. "You guys go back to the apartment. I'll bring this woman to the Sohma house. Don't worry about me." He called behind his shoulder. Kyo looked up to Yuki and groaned as he stood up again, careful not to move his shoulder.  
"You know, I'll have to tell Tohru what our real intention was, out here." Kyo muttered.  
"Why?" Yuki glanced at him curiously.  
"Because she'll wonder why I'm shot, and because I don't think I can live with myself if I lie to her anymore. She's too trusting."  
Yuki smiled to Kyo as he helped him walk down the street, an arm around him for support.

When they finally stumbled up the stairs to the apartment, Yuki opened the door and let Kyo walk in by himself. He flinched as Tohru let out a horrified gasp, standing from the table she had been sitting at and looking at his shoulder in concern.  
"What happened? How did you get hurt so badly?" She said, her brown eyes wide.  
"We wanted to capture that woman, so we decided to put myself up as bait." Kyo said, not able to look at her face as he confessed. Her expression crumbled, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes.  
"You could have gotten really hurt." She whispered, her voice wavering. Kyo looked up at her and reached a hand out to try and comfort her, but she moved quickly away from him to walk to the other room.  
"I'll get the first aid kit." She muttered as she walked away.  
"I don't think she's too pleased." Shigure watched Tohru exit the room, and looked to Kyo with concern. "The wound isn't too bad, is it?"  
"No, it's only a bullet graze. It should heal pretty quickly."  
"A bullet?" Tohru gasped as she walked back into the room, carrying a small white box with a red cross on it. Kyo watched as she silently took out the necessary things from the box, and looked up at him, her blue eyes dull with a mixture of sorrow and anger. He hated to see her look at him like that, but knew he deserved it. He had betrayed her trust.  
She unwrapped his bandages, thanking Yuki for sacrificing his shirt to save Kyo from any more bleeding. She pushed Kyo so that he sat on the ground, dabbing the wound with peroxide a little harder than was needed, making him cringe and hiss in pain.  
"I think we should head home about now, Yuki has class, and I'm sure Akito will want me there to deal with the woman. I'm assuming you caught her, right?" Shigure looked to Yuki, who nodded and looked at Tohru with concern. He had never seen Tohru so angry before. Usually she forgave people so easily that she never stayed angry for more than a few minutes, but he knew this would be the exception.  
"Good bye Tohru, I'll talk to you later. Take good care of Kyo." Shigure said happily, pushing Yuki out the door and closing it behind himself.  
Kyo glanced up at Tohru, not liking the unusual silence between them. "You're angry with me." He said as a statement, knowing it was already true.  
"Yes." She said, her voice soft. It was deeper than usual, and surprised him.  
"I wanted to make sure she wouldn't hurt you again, Tohru." Kyo answered, looking up to see her reaction. She stayed silent, but her eyes brightened slightly as she glanced up at him.  
"Kyo, you don't get it at all." She sighed, and looked away when she finished taking care of his gash. She glanced back at him one more time before walking into the kitchen, washing a pan to make food for dinner.  
Kyo watched her leave, swearing at himself as he searched his mind for what she could mean. Of course he didn't 'get it', he had no idea what she was talking about- why was she so angry with him for protecting her? He hated to see her expression like this though, he missed the happy Tohru who would smile brightly at him just to see him smile back. He looked at the ground in frustration, his teeth bared angrily. He was being stupid- sitting here moping would get him nowhere.  
Kyo walked into the kitchen, seeing Tohru scrub the saucepan with more pressure than was necessary. He faltered for a minute in caution before continuing forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and sighing against her shoulder. He did love the fact that now he could embrace her with no worries of transforming. "Please don't be angry at me, Tohru. I don't know why you're so mad at me."  
Tohru stopped what she was doing, her shoulders tensing as she dropped the pan into the sink with a loud klatter.  
"Kyo, you don't realize it- if you had died… Being without you would hurt more than any injury I could get. Don't throw yourself away like that." She said, her voice cracking as emotion overcame her.  
Kyo let out a low groan of frustration, turning her around in his arms to hug her tightly to him. "Please don't cry. I just forgot how much you cared about me. It's still pretty new to have someone love me as much as you do."  
"I do Kyo, I love you too much- I don't know how to be without you now." Tohru whispered against Kyo's torn shirt, making him sigh again, this time with regret. He knew acting as bait had been a bad idea, and yet he had gone through with it. He didn't know how to calm her down though- words wouldn't help right now, they would only make the situation worse. Instead he leaned down and kissed her lips softly, his red eyes looking into her deep brown eyes.  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you so much." He said quietly, glancing down as he felt the kitten wind through both of their legs, as if asking what was happening. Tohru let out a choked laughter as she picked up the kitten, the small orange cat nuzzling her comfortingly.  
"It's okay. Just be more careful." Tohru said, her eyes puffy from crying. She handed him the kitten, who mewled cutely as he held her in his hands. He rolled his eyes and reached into a cupboard over Tohru's head, opening a can of cat food for Kyoko.  
"She just wanted some food." Kyo sighed. Tohru giggled and smiled softly as she watched the cat eat.  
"I'm not really hungry anymore." She said, looking at the pan she had been washing.  
"We did eat lunch pretty late today. Do you just want to get some sleep?" Kyo asked, stroking the kitten's back absentmindedly.  
Tohru nodded, and walked into the bedroom, sitting on the mattress with a deep and calming sigh. Kyo flopped onto the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.  
"You're fine, Kyo. Really." She whispered, closing her eyes contentedly as he breathed against her neck.  
"I hate to see you unhappy, Tohru. I miss your smile. What can I do to cheer you up again? I made this whole trip to Hokkaido a failure. It was supposed to make you happy."  
"I am happy, Kyo. You're here, everyone knows our phone number, and we even have our own kitten." Tohru smiled, taking one of Kyo's hands and bringing it up so that his palm covered her cheek. "As long as you're here, I'm happy."  
Kyo smiled softly and shifted himself so that his chest lay on top of hers, using his elbows for support. He kissed her gently, watching her as she smiled up at him.  
"You're okay with this?" He asked, his voice low as the heat rose in his blood.  
Tohru answered by leaning her head up to kiss him back, twining her arms around his shoulders for support.  
"As long as you're sure." The chuckled against her lips as he kissed her deeper.


	13. Rapture

Kyo smiled against Tohru's cheek before kissing her again, this time deeper and harder than before. They broke the kiss with heavy breaths, Tohru's cheeks flushed as she realized what was about to happen. Kyo sat up long enough to whip his shirt off, leaning back down against her.  
"I've never done anything like this before. I'll be gentle, Tohru." Kyo whispered to her, kissing her cheek, then down to her neck. She gasped in surprise, arching her spine as he started to kiss her collarbone. She gripped his shoulders as pleasure ran through her in waves, making Kyo shiver. He ran his lips along the top of her shirt, letting out a low growl of frustration at the fabric.  
"I want your shirt off- please?" Kyo whispered, his voice husky. Tohru, unable to find her voice as her head started to cloud, nodded quickly in answer. Kyo grinned and sat her up, kissing her again before raising her shirt off her arms, revealing a lacy pink bra. He blinked for a moment in shock at the sight of her, his face flushing even more.  
"Tohru, you're so beautiful." He said as he leaned her back again, kissing her collarbone again before gently placing a hand on one of her breasts. He watched her expression as she let out a quick gasp at the sensations. He nuzzled against her neck, kissing at her pulse point before moving back to her collarbone, and lower until he came to the lace of her bra. He reached behind her, trying to undo the clasp, but grunted with frustration when he couldn't figure out how to undo it. He fell against Tohru's front, resting his cheek on the lace in frustration. He heard Tohru's giggle rumble through her chest, and looked up at her in surprise as she sat up, reaching behind her back to undo the hooks herself. She slipped the scrap of lace down her arms and Kyo move up eagerly, holding her back for support as he moved his mouth along the curve of her breast, his hot breath making Tohru gasp and arch her back into his mouth. Tohru inhaled a shaky breath, realizing with a deep blush that she wanted _more_. She didn't know if it was okay to feel this way or not, but as the sensations Kyo was giving her started to cloud her mind, she was beginning not to care.  
"K-kyo!" Tohru gasped, making Kyo shiver. He let out a low growl, his hands going to the zipper of her jeans, undoing them with shaking hands. They both flung off their clothes before Kyo grabbed her by the waist, tossing her back down onto the bed, his eyes warm as he looked down at her soft curves.  
"Are you sure you want this? We can stop if you're too scared." He said, nuzzling her neck as she gasped at the feeling of his hardness against her thigh. She looked down at him and blushed crimson at the sight of his male anatomy, wondering how such a large object was supposed to fit inside her. He followed the line of her eyes and grinned against her cheek, not able to help but smile at her wide eyes.  
He searched her expression momentarily before setting the tip of himself against her entrance, letting out a sharp hiss at the feeling.  
"Last time, Tohru- you have to be sure you want this." Kyo said, his voice shaking. "I'm not ever going to leave you after this- no matter how many times you run away or say you don't want me." He reached up and kissed her softly. "This is forever. Are you sure you want to be stuck with me for that long?"  
Tohru looked up at him, tears burning her eyes at his words. "Yes, I do. Forever with Kyo…" She wrapped her arms around his chest, setting her cheek against his and sighed.  
Kyo smiled and moved himself into her slowly, shuddering at the feeling of her. He felt a resistance and stopped, not wanting to hurt her too much. He leaned up a little to watch her as he pushed forward harder, stopping when she bit her lip and flinched. He stayed like that for a minute, on the edge of insanity as he waited for her to get used to him invading her.  
"Please…" Tohru gasped, racking her nails down his shoulders. Her plea threw him off the edge and he buried himself within her with a loud groan. He couldn't help but keep moving- he couldn't stop now that he had started, and Tohru's gasps and whimpers only made him go more insane with passion. Tohru cried out and wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping as he pounded into her, his face buried in her hair as he groaned. He finally stiffened and let out a loud cry, his teeth clenched together before he fell against her, panting for air.  
"Tohru…" he whispered, kissing her softly as he shifted away from her to not crush her under his weight. They both stayed silent for a while, wrapped in each other's arms as they attempted to catch their breath.  
"Rin was right." Tohru giggled against Kyo's shoulder. He looked down at her curiously.  
"What did she say?" He said, his voice still husky.  
"She said that doing it with the one you love was the best feeling in the world." Tohru moved closer to Kyo, smiling against his skin.  
"I didn't even know she had done it yet." Kyo said, thinking for a minute. That meant that Rin and Hatsuharu…  
Kyo shook his head, trying to get that thought out of his mind. Right now he only wanted to think about Tohru.  
"And Kyo?" Tohru looked up at him, a sly smile over her face. Kyo was surprised by such a rare expression on Tohru, but tilted his head curiously. "You're stuck with me too, now." Tohru giggled and nuzzled his shoulder affectionately.  
Kyo let out a deep chuckle and hugged her tightly to his chest, resting his chin on her hair. She ran her hand softly over the bandage on his arm from the gunshot earlier.  
"Do you think she'll finally leave us alone? I want to start over now." Tohru looked at the wound on Kyo's shoulder, the bandages starting to slide off from sweat.  
"I think that's a good idea. I start students back up in the dojo, and you can go back to work- but Tohru?" Kyo looked at her with stern eyes. "Get another job. I can't stand having you work in that place as a maid."  
Tohru smiled and nodded, not really wanting to work there anyway. "I'll get another job, and we'll make things work. This time for real." Tohru smiled. Kyo smiled softly, kissing her forehead.  
"That's the smile I love to see. Now I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Let's get some sleep." Kyo reached down to get the blanket at the end of the bed, raising it up over them and wrapping an arm around Tohru's waist. Tohru settled herself in the curve of his body, sighing in content as she heard his soft snores behind her.

"Here's the woman who's made all this trouble for our couple up north." Hatsuharu shoved the old woman into the room Akito and Shigure were waiting in. Akito looked at the woman with wide eyes, realizing it was the same one who had left just after all the zodiac members had lost their ability to turn into animals.  
"_You _wanted to kill Kyo and Tohru?" Akito yelled, standing up quickly and storming over to the woman. "Why the hell would you want to kill a member of the zodiac you freakish woman?! Are you that obsessed with us?"  
"You have all lost your gift from God, and I'm just trying to get it back for you. Everything has changed since that stupid girl came into this house- you need to go back to how it originally was!" The old woman pleaded with Akito, who only grew more angry at the words.  
"I was MISERABLE before, you fucking idiot!" Akito stomped at the ground to emphasize her point. "And no thanks to you! Locking my mother up, keeping me from my father, and worst of all you brainwashed me into pretending I should be a guy! It was all wrong- everything you built around me was a lie, and now that I finally broke out of it you just want to shove me back into it?" Akito yelled with burning eyes, turning as a soft hand grabbed her shoulder. Shigure looked at her in concern, his hand staying still against her shoulder to wait for her reaction. Akito let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes to calm herself down.  
"I won't punish you for being insane- it's pointless to try and change your mind. What I will do is this- you are never to leave this household again. You are to stay where I put you until the end of your days." Akito looked down at the woman with cold eyes. "After all, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?"  
The old woman looked up at her in horror. "Where are you putting me?" She whispered.  
"My father's room." Akito grinned. "As I remember, you loved that room."  
The woman gasped, her eyes wide in horror. "Please- no! His spirit is still in here- that's why it's abandoned!"  
"Too bad for you, then." Akito grinned, her eyes flashing. "Hatsuharu, could you be so kind as to lead this woman to the room? I think you know where it is."  
"Will do." Hatsuharu looked down at the woman, his eyes wide with a crazed smile as he turned to his black personality. He grabbed the woman by the collar of her kimono, and dragged her off into the hallway. "Wait 'till Ayame gets a hold of you, you little bitch. He's gonna-" His voice faded off as he walked out of the building.  
Shigure let out a loud sigh. "Ah yes, Ayame is going to be angry with her indeed. I'm afraid we'll have to call the hospital tonight."  
"Serves her right." Akito hissed.  
"Now now, dear. No one deserves Ayame's wrath, no matter how insane they've become." Shigure looked up as Ayame walked down the hall, his normally smiling face a stern mask of anger. Shigure flinched in fear, stepping back as Ayame walked forward without so much as a glance their way.  
"Perhaps I should call the hospital now…" Shigure said with a shaky voice, walking over to the phone on the other side of the room.


	14. Scrambled

Tohru opened her eyes drowsily, sighing in content at the morning light shining through the window. She looked down at Kyo sleeping below her and blushed, remembering what they had done the night before. They were living together- was it okay to feel this way, and do these things? Tohru bit her lip nervously as she saw Kyo stir in his sleep, a low rumble coming from his throat as he smiled in his slumber. She gasped as she felt something hard against her back and blushed crimson, realizing he must be dreaming. She blinked in confusion at what to do and finally decided to get up and get dressed. Tohru quickly changed into a casual outfit of sweatpants and a t-shirt, trotting over to the kitchen to start breakfast. She looked at Kyoko on the counter, who mewled happily and watched Tohru as she took pots and pans out of the cupboards as quietly as she could. She cracked some eggs, getting started scrambling them over the hiss of the pan's heat. She felt arms wrap around her waist and gasped as Kyo kissed the back of her shoulder, looking over her to see what she was cooking.  
"Mmm, eggs. Want me to make the bacon?" He asked, kissing her neck again, sending all coherent thought flying out of her head.  
"Uhhh… sure." She whispered, her voice low and husky. Kyo chuckled and walked over to the fridge, taking out the bacon and getting another pan. Tohru glanced over to him and nearly gasped when she realized he was walking around in only boxers. She blushed, remembering what he looked like underneath and returned to her eggs, concentrating far too hard on cooking. They both jumped as the phone rang from the table, and Kyo sighed, walking over and flipping open the cell phone.  
"Yo." He said casually into the receiver.  
"Well you sound happy today." Yuki's voice said sarcastically from the other end.  
"Well, I had a good night. So sue me."  
"Oh god, stop right there. There are some things I just don't need to hear." Yuki hissed in disgust.  
Kyo saw Tohru blush even more at the mention of last night and chuckled. "So what's up?"  
"The woman is in the hospital. Ayame got a hold of her. Shigure stopped him from doing more damage, but she's pretty bad."  
"Serves her right, the bitch." Kyo spat without remorse.  
"I just thought you'd like to know what's going on. Also, Shigure requests you and Tohru come to the house for the feast this year. We're not zodiac animals anymore, but it's nice to have a get-together now that everyone's going their separate ways."  
"Sure, when is it?" Kyo glanced at the calendar nailed to the wall beside him in the kitchen.  
"In two weeks. Will you be able to make it?" Yuki sounded a little too hopeful. Kyo smirked at his once-rival, knowing how much he missed Tohru. How cute.  
"I don't see why not." Kyo lowered the phone. "Hey Tohru, you want to go to the feast they're having in a couple weeks at the Sohma house?"  
He was answered by a squeal of excitement and Tohru turning around with a bright smile. He laughed and brought the phone back up. "That's a yes."  
"Same Tohru." Yuki chuckled. "I'm glad she's feeling better."  
"Me too." Kyo said, his voice low. He had been terrified that Tohru would never smile again after what had happened. He still wondered if she was trying to bury the memory and move on. Perhaps that was for the best. He realized Yuki was asking a question and forced himself from his thoughts. "What?"  
"I said are you going to bring your cat? Shigure wants to see Kyoko I guess."  
"Ironic how much that dog likes a cat."  
"Yes well, I think he's saying it for Akito in his situation."  
"Agreed." Kyo nodded. "We can bring the kitten, it's better than leaving her here alone."  
"Akito wants to talk with you, too. Something about Tohru." Yuki said, his voice dark.  
Kyo froze, his eyes wide. What did that mean? Akito had no say over them anymore, but what did she want to talk about? "Uh…. Yeah, I can do that. I'll see he in a couple weeks, along with everyone else."  
"Just don't go near the old room where Akito's father used to stay. Apparently they're keeping the woman there when she gets back from the hospital."  
"Got it. Keep away from the crazy bitch." Kyo sighed as he smelled something burn and saw Tohru biting her lip nervously, trying to pour blackened char into the sink. "I've got to go- or else the apartment will burn down. I'll talk to you later, Yuki."  
Yuki laughed. "Alright- say hi to Tohru for me."  
"Will do." Kyo said hurriedly, closing the phone and tossing it aside before taking the pan from Tohru.  
"I thought you were good at cooking?" Kyo laughed, looking at the egg stuck to the bottom of the pan.  
"I've never made scrambled eggs before." Tohru pouted.  
"You're fine, no need to worry. We'll fix it." Kyo leaned over and kissed her forehead, smiling at her reddening cheeks.

Yuki hung up the phone, looking out the window with a sigh. He looked up in surprise as a knock came to his dorm door, and he blinked in confusion before opening it. He stepped back in surprise as Machi looked up at him meekly.  
"I hope this is okay." She said softly, looking at the ground uneasily.  
"Of course! Come in." Yuki stepped aside politely, watching Machi walk in with a smile. Machi looked around at all the books on the floor, her eyes wide.  
"You don't clean much, do you?" She smiled wryly at Yuki.  
Yuki blushed, looking around at the wrappers on the floor from food, the trash in the corner overflowing. "I guess not." He said uneasily.  
"You're fine. I like cleaning. Do you mind?" Machi set down her bag, smiling at Yuki.  
"Uh… I guess not- do you want me to help?"  
"Sure. It'll get done twice as fast that way. Do you have class soon?"  
"Not until tomorrow." Yuki smiled, but silently wondered why Machi was here. He watched as she started with the trash bag first, tying off the top and setting it by the door.  
"So, how are things back home?" Yuki said, hoping he wasn't being nosy.  
"Oh, it's okay. Everyone else, at least." Machi looked at the wrappers in her hand thoughtfully.  
"Everyone else? What about you?" Yuki said in concern.  
"I got a weird phone call the other day. It kind of spooked me." She said nervously.  
Yuki froze, looking up at Machi "what kind of phone call?"  
"They said they knew you liked me. They said they knew you were protecting Tohru, and that I was the best way to get to you, that I should be on by guard. I saw someone looking at my house yesterday, and I didn't want to go outside."  
Yuki dropped the wrappers in his hands, walking over to Machi and holding her shoulders gently. "I don't want you go to back there, Machi. Please." He said desperately. What if those men were acting separately from the old woman- and now they were after Machi?  
"I don't really know where else to go, though." She whispered, her eyes tearing up.  
"Then you'll stay here." Yuki said in determination. Machi looked up at him, her eyes wide.  
"But I don't want to impose on you- you have classes to study for, and-"  
"Screw the classes, I care more about your safety. You're not an imposition, Machi. I care about you- I want to keep you safe." Yuki brought her into a hug, sighing against her brown hair. He looked at the ground and noticed a wrapper still in the middle of the room. He knew Machi had done it on purpose and left it there to keep things from being too orderly.  
"Okay, but you seem to know more than I do about what's going on. Tell me- please?" Machi looked up at him, her eyes still misty. Yuki sighed, looking down uneasily. This would take a while to explain.


End file.
